Criminals target SIM cards of all Hungarian providers

Competition

pixabay

Not only Magyar Telekom but also Telenor and Vodafone SIM cards are thought to be among the approximately 200,000 cards reported to have been purchased by underground criminal circles, Hungarian government-friendly Magyar Idők reported today, citing an unnamed national security source.

According to the source, five to ten people could be identified as “big card consumers” purchasing from the three big service providers, and there is an overlap among these names appearing at the different providers, Magyar Idők reported.

The paper reported that only 128,000 SIM cards may have been purchased from Magyar Telekom, the rest having been bought from Vodafone and Telenor. The paper said that the record SIM card buyer could have purchased approximately 180,000 cards.

The Hungarian government on October 7 was reported to be planning to introduce stricter regulations for purchasing SIM cards in the country, after a scandal suggesting some 200,000 burner SIM cards could have been purchased by alleged terrorist cells.

SUPPORT THE BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL

Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For 27 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.
Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.

Support the BBJ

Startups