Secret Service SIM farm story questioned as exaggerated or misleading
By
sixhobbits
Kettled twice. Extra chewy, extra trustworthy.
Summary
The article argues that a Secret Service announcement about foiling a major national security threat involving a "SIM farm" is actually bogus. The author claims the operation uncovered normal criminal enterprise—banks of phones used for spam or call forwarding—and may even be legitimate VoIP gateway activity. The piece criticizes major news outlets like the NYTimes for repeating the Secret Service's claims without scrutiny.
Key quotes
· 4 pulledThe story is bogus.
What they discovered was just normal criminal enterprise, banks of thousands of cell 'phones' (sic) used to send spam or forward international calls using local phone numbers.
Technically, it may even be legitimate enterprise, being simply a gateway between a legitimate VoIP provider and the mobile phone network.
Major news organizations (e.g. NYTimes) have repeated their claims without questioning them.
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