Key facts
- Ajay Shinjin was jailed for two and a half years for his role in a SIM-swap fraud.
- The fraud resulted in the theft of almost £200,000 worth of cryptocurrency.
- Shinjin received over £44,000 of the stolen funds.
- He spent the money on Dubai holidays, a high-end apartment, and gold-plated teeth grills.
- One victim lost approximately £40,000 in crypto on November 2, 2021, with Shinjin receiving about £27,000.
- Unauthorized SIM swap cases in the UK rose 402% in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period last year.
A London man, Ajay Shinjin, 25, has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for his involvement in a SIM-swap fraud that resulted in the theft of nearly £200,000 worth of cryptocurrency. The City of London Police announced the sentencing on Thursday.
Shinjin received over £44,000 of the stolen funds, which he used to finance luxury holidays in Dubai, purchase a high-end apartment in Canary Wharf, and acquire gold-plated teeth grills. He also went by the alias AJ Marley Cruz.
The fraud involved criminals taking control of victims' phone numbers by transferring them to SIM cards they controlled. This allowed them to intercept one-time passcodes sent by banks and cryptocurrency platforms, enabling unauthorized access to accounts. One victim lost approximately £40,000 in crypto on November 2, 2021, with Shinjin receiving about £27,000 of that amount. Another victim had their entire roughly £17,000 stolen, and Shinjin was also implicated in stealing approximately £8,000 from a third victim and £130,000 from a fourth.
BT detected unauthorized activity on its systems in early November 2021, leading to the identification of customer phone numbers being transferred to criminal-controlled SIM cards. Data from BT helped police identify Shinjin as a suspect, linking him to four devices used in the scheme. He was initially arrested in 2021 at his flat and later re-arrested at Heathrow Airport in October 2023 while returning from Dubai, after further evidence emerged.
Detective Constable Simon Ardeman of the City of London Police described SIM-swap fraud as a "sophisticated and increasingly concerning form of offending" with "devastating consequences for victims."
According to fraud prevention service Cifas, unauthorized SIM swap cases recorded in the UK's National Fraud Database increased by 402% in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period in the previous year. This rise is attributed to the increasing use of SIM swaps to intercept security codes and bypass account protections.
Cybersecurity experts recommend using authentication apps for two-factor authentication instead of text messages, setting a separate PIN with mobile carriers, and enabling account takeover protection to enhance security against SIM swaps.