UK to ban ‘sim farms' used by scammers to send mass fraud messages
Sim farm devices capable of holding multiple sim cards enabling scammers to send thousands of scam text messages at once are to be banned under plans to crack down on fraud.
The ban, the first of its kind in Europe, will make the possession or supply of the devices without good reason illegal, with unlimited fines in England and Wales and a £5,000 fine in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Government said the devices are used by criminals to hold multiple sim cards, which as well as allowing scammers to send out thousands of messages to people at the same time, can also be used to create verified accounts on social media and other platforms in large volumes.
The Home Office said recent data showed fraud had increased last year by 19%, and now accounts for more than 40% of all reported crime in England and Wales.
Fraud minister Lord Hanson said: 'Fraud devastates lives, and I am determined to take the decisive action necessary to protect the public from these shameful criminals.
'Two-thirds of British adults say they've received a suspicious message on their phone – equivalent to more than 35 million people – which is why cracking down on sim farms is so vital to protecting the public.
'This marks a leap forward in our fight against fraud and will provide law enforcement and industry partners with the clarity they need to protect the public from this shameful crime.
'This Government will continue to take robust action to protect the public from fraud and deliver security and resilience through the Plan for Change.'
Nick Sharp, deputy director for fraud at the National Crime Agency (NCA), said: 'Fraud is the crime we are all most likely to experience, and one that causes victims significant emotional and financial harm.
'We know that fraud at scale is being facilitated by sim farms, which give criminals a means and an opportunity to contact victims at scale with relative ease.
'The ban announced today is very welcome. It will give us a vital tool to step up our fight against fraudsters, target the services they rely on, and better protect the public.'
The Government said the new ban will come into effect six months after the Crime and Policing Bill receives royal assent.
Scam text messages have become an increasingly common problem in recent years, with mobile operators regularly introducing new technology to help spot and block them before they reach the public.
Rachel Andrews, head of corporate security at Vodafone UK, said the ban on sim farms was an 'important step' in preventing fraud.
'Vodafone UK is committed to protecting all our customers from fraud, including activity enabled by sim farms,' she said.
'So far this year we have blocked over 38.5 million suspected scam messages, and in 2024 that figure reached over 73.5 million for the year.
'As an industry, UK telecoms operators have blocked more than one billion suspected scam messages since 2023.
'However, we cannot fully tackle fraud in isolation; collaboration between industry and government is crucial.
'This is a really important step taken by the Home Office and we fully support the inclusion of sim farms in the upcoming legislation.
'We look forward to working together on this issue.'
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: 'We welcome this move but let's not pretend Labour led the charge. This builds directly on the work the Conservatives did last year to crack down on sim farms through the Criminal Justice Bill.
'These devices are the weapon of choice for fraudsters. We acted to close that loophole, and it's right that Labour are finally scrambling to catch up.
'Enforcement is now key, as criminals will always look for new ways to abuse the system. Ministers must ensure this legislation is watertight, or it risks being a ban in name only.'
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Medical experts provided case summaries on all 17 babies from the Letby trial An international panel of medical experts has provided case summaries on all 17 babies who featured in the 10-month trial of Lucy Letby. The 14-strong panel concluded that no criminal offences had been committed at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2015 and 2016 and instead provided alternative causes of deterioration: - Baby 1 (known as Child A in the trial): The prosecution said the boy was murdered by an injection of air into the bloodstream which caused an air embolism where bubbles form and block the blood supply. The panel found no evidence of air embolism and said the child had died from thrombosis, where a blood clot forms in a vessel. - Baby 2 (Child B): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder Child A's twin sister by also injecting air into her bloodstream. The panel found no evidence of air embolism and said the child had collapsed from thrombosis. - Baby 3 (Child C): The prosecution said the boy was murdered with air forced down his feeding tube and into his stomach. The panel said the child died following ineffective resuscitation from a collapse after an "acute small bowel obstruction" that went unrecognised. - Baby 4 (Child D): The prosecution said the girl was murdered by an injection of air into the bloodstream. The panel found no evidence of air embolism and ruled the child died of systemic sepsis, pneumonia and disseminated intravascular coagulation (blood clotting). Issues with failures to give relevant antibiotics were also identified. - Baby 5 (Child E): The Crown said Letby murdered the twin boy with an injection of air into the bloodstream and she also deliberately caused bleeding to the infant. The panel said there was no evidence of air embolism and bleeding was caused either by a lack of oxygen pre-birth or a congenital blood vessel condition. - Baby 6 (Child F): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder Child E's twin brother by administering insulin. The panel ruled that the child's insulin levels and insulin/C-peptide ratio did not prove that exogenous insulin was used and were within the norm for pre-term infants. It added that there was poor medical management of the child's prolonged hypoglycaemia. - Baby 7 (Child G): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder the girl by overfeeding her with milk and forcing air down her feeding tube. The panel said there was no evidence to support air injection into the stomach or overfeeding. The infant's vomiting and clinical deterioration was due to infection, it found. - Baby 8 (Child H): Jurors cleared Letby of one count of attempted murder and failed to reach a verdict on a second count. Prosecutors said the nurse sabotaged the girl's care in some way which led to two profound oxygen desaturations. The panel said the deteriorations were due to medical mismanagement of a tension pneumothorax where air is trapped between the lung and chest wall. - Baby 9 (Child I): The prosecution said Letby murdered the infant by injecting air into her bloodstream and stomach. The panel said it found no evidence of air injections and that the baby died of breathing complications caused by respiratory distress syndrome and chronic lung disease. - Baby 10 (Child J): Jurors could not reach a verdict on an allegation of attempted murder. No specific form of harm was identified by the prosecution but they said Letby did something to cause the collapse of the girl. The panel said the deterioration was caused by sepsis and there was no evidence to support malicious airway obstruction. - Baby 11 (Child K): The prosecution said Letby attempted to murder the girl by deliberately dislodging her breathing tube. Among its findings the panel said there was no evidence to support a dislodged endotracheal tube (ETT) and the clinical deterioration was caused by use of an undersized ETT. - Baby 12 (Child L): The Crown said the nurse poisoned the boy with insulin. The panel said the infant's insulin-related levels were within the norm for pre-term infants and there was no evidence of deliberate administration. - Baby 13 (Child M): Prosecutors said Letby attempted to murder Child L's twin brother by injecting air into his bloodstream. The panel said there was no evidence of air embolism and his collapse was caused by sepsis or a heart problem. - Baby 14 (Child N): The Crown said the boy was the victim of attempted murder by inflicted trauma in his throat and an air injection into his bloodstream. The panel said there was no air embolism and it was likely his blood oxygen levels dropped due to his haemophilia condition or routine cares, which was "exacerbated" by repeated attempts to insert a breathing tube. - Baby 15 (Child O): The prosecution said Letby murdered the triplet boy by injecting air into his bloodstream and inflicting trauma to his liver. The panel said he died from liver damage caused by traumatic delivery, resulting in bleeding in the abdomen and profound shock. - Baby 16 (Child P): Prosecutors said Letby murdered Child O's brother by injecting him with air. The panel said there was no evidence to support that mechanism and that he died from a collapsed lung that was "suboptimally managed". - Baby 17 (Child Q): Jurors could not reach a verdict on an allegation of attempted murder. The Crown said Letby attempted to murder the boy by injecting liquid, and possibly air, down his feeding tube. The panel said there was no evidence to support air injection into the stomach and the child deteriorated because he had early symptoms of a serious gastrointestinal problem, or sepsis. He testified that the nurse was seen standing over Baby K's cot as the infant's condition deteriorated. Taking the stand, the doctor said Letby failed to call for help as the newborn's condition declined, insisting the nurse had virtually been caught "red handed". But prior to the start of the police investigation, Dr Jayaram wrote in an email to colleagues: "At time of deterioration ... Staff nurse Letby at incubator and called Dr Jayaram to inform of low saturations." The revelatory memo appears to contradict previous testimony, with the evidence not making it into documents handed to cops before the start of the investigation. In the newly released email, Dr Jayaram also suggested Baby K's fragile premature condition was instead the cause of death, saying: "Baby subsequently deteriorated and eventually died, but events around this would fit with explainable events associated with extreme prematurity." The note sees him suggest that the baby's death was explained by issues associated with extreme prematurity. Appearing at the 2024 trial, the doctor framed her behaviour as suspicious, telling the court: "Lucy Letby was stood next to the incubator. "She wasn't looking at me. She didn't have her hands in the incubator." Asked by prosecutor Nick Johnson KC whether he had "any call for help from Lucy Letby?", he replied: "No, not at all. "I was surprised that the alarm was not going off, although my priority was (Baby K) and I didn't question it at the time.'In retrospect, I was surprised that help was not called, given (Baby K) was a 25-week gestation baby and her saturations were dropping." However, at the recent Thirlwall Inquiry, the doctor expressed regret at not raising the alarm over the nurse's behaviour sooner He explained: "I lie awake thinking about this ... I should have been braver." 6 Human rights barrister Mark McDonald Credit: PA 6 Dr Ravi Jayaram was the only medical witness at Letby's two trials who was able to point to behaviour directly linking her to babies' deaths Credit: Rex
