The criminalisation of SIM farms in the UK represents one in a range of regulatory interventions aimed at stemming the growing tide of malicious messaging around the world
Criminalising the possession of SIM farms and imposing an unlimited fine for violators
On 24 April 2025, the UK Government, via the Home Office, announced its intention to criminalise the possession and supply of SIM farms, which are also referred to as SIM boxes and are devices capable of holding multiple SIM cards and facilitating high volumes of scam messaging and other fraudulent activities over mobile networks. In discussing the cause for the UK to become the first European country to criminalise SIM farms, Sir David Hanson (Minister of State for the Home Office) stated that fraud now accounts for more than 40% of all reported crime in England and Wales and more than 35m people have reported receiving a suspicious text message on their phone. The ban will be enacted through the Crime and Policing Bill and will be in force six months after the legislation receives royal assent. The offence of possessing a SIM farm without a legitimate use will carry an unlimited fine in England and Wales and a maximum penalty of £5,000 in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The action follows a May 2023 consultation through which the Government clarified its definition of the technology
The decision to outlaw SIM farms follows a May 2023 consultation on the matter conducted under the previous government in relation to its powers under the Fraud Act as well as a commitment from the Conservative Party manifesto to ban the technology during the 2024 general election. The Government previously identified that it was unable to ban the possession of technologies used primarily or exclusively for fraudulent communications, including SIM farms, without first establishing a direct intent to use those technologies to commit fraud. Under the Crime and Policing Act, the Government will now have the authority to criminalise the possession of these technologies without proving any intent. Through the prior consultation and its response, the Government also established its specific definition of SIM farms based on both the state of the UK mobile market and the types of technology in question. The Government initially proposed that devices capable of accommodating more than four SIM cards could claim no legitimate purpose (such as resilience and continuity of operations) because the UK only had four mobile networks. However, based on respondents’ feedback regarding the growth in use of eSIMs and the prevalence of consumer devices that could accommodate multiple eSIMs for legitimate purposes, the Government narrowed its definition to only capture devices capable of holding five or more physical SIM cards that have no proven legitimate use case. The Government also addressed the possibility of licensing SIM farms as opposed to banning them outright but stated its belief that a licensing regime would be more burdensome for businesses than an exemption based on legitimate use and that licensing, as opposed to introducing a new criminal offence, did not align with the severity of the harm facilitated by the technology.
In addition to banning SIM farms, governments around the world have embraced SIM registration to address scam communications
While the UK is the first country in Europe to move to prohibit the possession of SIM farms, other countries around the world are also acting or have acted to prevent the proliferation of the technology in the face of rising fraud. In Thailand, the Government, through its National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), is currently considering draft regulation to require the licensing of SIM farms. In India, the Government, via the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), has also worked extensively in recent years to enforce a ban on SIM farms, seizing the boxes and related equipment from suspected fraudsters. In addition to banning SIM farms, a number of governments have also adopted or updated regulations requiring operators to verify the identity of consumers and maintain a register of SIM cards issued. These obligations often apply specifically to the sale of prepaid SIM cards and can also extend to identity verification procedures to complete number port outs or SIM swaps, which represent a site of fraud of growing interest to regulators as well. Beyond the regulation of SIMs, fraudulent SMS traffic in the UK has also been a core focus for Ofcom in recent months, having announced a ban on the leasing of Global Titles and opened a call for input on further interventions to prevent malicious messaging in July 2024. Though fraud conducted via SMS often results in lower value losses to victimised consumers, the massive growth in the volume of malicious messaging is likely to continue to draw the focus of regulators.
