A UK man has received a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for SIM-swap fraud linked to cryptocurrency thefts totaling nearly £200,000, approximately $265,000. Police said he used his share of the proceeds to finance luxury holidays and expensive purchases.
Ajay Shinjin, 25, also known as AJ Marley Cruz, pleaded guilty at Inner London Crown Court on September 28, 2026. The court sentenced him on October 8.
According to investigators, Shinjin received more than £44,000 in stolen funds. His spending included trips to Dubai, a high-end apartment and gold-plated teeth grills.
Hijacked Phone Numbers Enabled Account Access
The scheme involved transferring victims’ mobile numbers to SIM cards controlled by criminals.
Once Shinjin controlled a number, he could receive text messages intended for its legitimate owner. Those messages included one-time passcodes used to access financial accounts.
Consequently, the stolen numbers helped him get into victims’ bank accounts or cryptocurrency accounts and access their funds.
The technique targeted the phone-number verification process. It did not require breaking the cryptography protecting the underlying digital assets.
BT Records Linked Shinjin to Four Victims
Telecom provider BT detected unauthorized activity within its systems in 2021. Investigators first arrested Shinjin in November that year after discovering transfers of customer numbers to criminal-controlled SIM cards.
According to police, BT’s records helped establish his involvement in thefts affecting four victims.
Shinjin received approximately £44,000 into his personal cryptocurrency account from thefts involving two people. Separately, he facilitated the theft of another £138,000 in cryptocurrency from two additional victims.
Those disclosed amounts total approximately £182,000. Police described the broader case as involving nearly £200,000 in stolen cryptocurrency.
The distinction also separates the money Shinjin personally received from the larger losses connected to his activities.
New Evidence Led to Heathrow Arrest
As the investigation progressed, further evidence prompted another arrest.
Police detained Shinjin at Heathrow Airport in October 2023 as he returned from Dubai. During police interviews, he declined to answer investigators’ questions.
He later admitted charges relating to fraud by deception and moving illegally obtained money.
The court subsequently imposed a 30-month prison term, concluding a case that began with suspicious activity inside a telecom provider’s systems.
Case Highlights the Impact of SIM-Swap Fraud
City of London Police said the case demonstrated the serious consequences of SIM-swap fraud for victims.
The thefts show how control of a mobile number can affect accounts that rely on text-message verification. Once criminals redirect that number, security codes may reach the attacker instead of the account holder.
Meanwhile, the investigation illustrates the role telecom records can play in tracing unauthorized number transfers and connecting them to stolen funds.
In Shinjin’s case, those records helped investigators link compromised phone numbers, cryptocurrency losses and payments into his own account.
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