SIM Farms: A Modern-Day Trojan for Mobile Network Operators(MNOs)

The increasing reliance on SMS for business communication has exposed vulnerabilities of this communication channel that can be exploited for unauthorized access, manipulation, and unchecked network traffic.

One of the most concerning threats comes from fraudsters exploiting legal loopholes and engaging in illegal practices to gain unfair advantages and undeserved monetary gains.

SIM farms stand out as a common fraud strategy for artificially inflating the results of business messaging campaigns, as well as other forms of SMS fraud.

What is a SIM farm?

A SIM farm is an array of SIM cards gathered in one place and run by devices called SIM banks or gateways. These are essentially consumer-grade mobile operator cards, suitable for both voice calls and text messaging.

Let’s say you reach out to an SMS service provider, expecting them to use a telecom operator in accordance with a contract for business text messaging. Instead, they use a set of regular SIM cards to run your SMS campaigns. This explains how standard SIM farms typically run.

SIM farms, which typically offer incredibly low rates for phone calls and SMS messages, are designed to bypass standard A2P messaging channels. They are a significant problem in the business messaging sector because they can hold tens to hundreds of thousands of SIM cards, which practically makes them spammers.

SIM farms vs SIM banks

Although both SIM farms and SIM banks require multiple SIMs, their goals are very different.

Some of the main applications of SIM banks are seen in legitimate business activities, such as customer service, call centers, and ethically and legally compliant SMS marketing campaigns. They facilitate effective communication routing and management, providing scalability and cost savings for businesses. SIM banks normally openly conduct business, adhering to rules and maintaining transparency.

Conversely, SIM farms frequently engage in illicit activities, utilizing large quantities of consumer-grade SIM cards to send SMS messages without the recipients' permission, get around legal restrictions, or commit fraud.

SIM farms vs SIM boxes

SIM boxes are devices that hold multiple SIM cards and are often used in SIM box fraud. They circumvent legal telecom routes and are used to illegally save on text messaging expenses.

SIM farms also use these devices but on a much larger scale. They use a huge number of SIM cards and SIM boxes to send unwanted bulk SMS messages over the mobile networks, qualifying their activities as spammy and possibly criminal.

Both of these methods undermine the security of regular A2P messaging channels, but SIM farms usually run bigger, better-organized operations. Do keep in mind that both SIM farms and SIM boxes are illegal in most jurisdictions.

“Efficiency” that harms your business

While SIM farms may seem like a cost-effective solution, their 'efficiency' is a dangerous illusion.

Companies that have a general disregard for social responsibility or are not familiar with the nuances of commercial messaging might find SIM farms a super affordable option for boosting their SMS marketing campaigns and expanding their customer base. Who could resist the tempting reduced prices and limitless market reach, with the added bonus of resource optimization? But in reality, they hide the serious and long-term harm it can bring to legitimate businesses such as yours.

SIM farms breach the terms of service of the majority of telecom operators, frequently breaking the law and operating outside the bounds of authorized A2P messaging channels. This alone should raise red flags for any ethical company.

Also, let’s not forget that the hidden expenses of SIM farms often offset the apparent cost savings. Such operations significantly raise the likelihood of spam flagging, resulting in lower delivery rates and a reduced return on investment.

Using SIM farms frequently results in the mishandling of private customer data, putting companies at risk of heavy fines and legal action. The damage isn't just financial; SIM farms have the potential to destroy a brand's reputation, associating them with dishonest business practices, leading to lost consumer trust.

The threats of SIM farms

The use of SIM farms puts businesses and consumers alike at serious risk, compromising data security, customer confidence, and brand reputation. Here's a detailed look into the risks of SIM farms.

For businesses

• Unreliable message delivery: Because SIM farms operate outside the scope of authorized channels, message delivery is not always consistent. Your SMS messages may get lost, blocked, or delayed, reducing the effectiveness of your campaigns and wasting money and other resources.

• Higher chances of being marked as spam: Because of their large volumes and erratic sending patterns, messages coming from SIM farms frequently set off spam filters. This can lead to the complete blocking or redirection of messages to spam folders, significantly reducing the reach and interaction with your audience.

• Serious regulatory violations: SIM farms work in a legal gray area; using them definitely breaks several data protection and telecommunications laws at once, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in the United States. Your company runs the risk of significant fines, legal action, and reputational harm if it chooses to work with a SIM farm.

• Lost trust in the brand: Consumers respect openness and ethical behavior. If your company gets exposed for using a SIM farm, it will destroy your reputation, along with all chances of consumer confidence in the brand. You will lose business, attract negative press, and suffer long-term reputational damage.

• Data security nightmares: SIM farm operators don’t care about data protection protocols. Profit beats privacy and security. Giving such shady organizations access to your sensitive customer data exposes confidential information to theft, fraud, and misuse, which can have disastrous consequences for your company and your clients.

For customers

• Higher amounts of spam: SIM farms contribute to unusual spam levels by flooding inboxes with unsolicited and often misleading bulk messages. This can annoy customers, waste their time, and cast a negative impression of your company.

• Gross violation of privacy: Businesses that use SIM farms run the risk of data breaches, identity theft, and other privacy violations because they are disclosing customers' personal information to unreliable third parties.

• Increased fraud risk: SIM farms are frequently used as a means for running smishing scams and other fraudulent operations. This increases the chances of innocent consumers falling victim to major financial loss and physical harm.

Remember, the main goal of those who run SIM farms is not to make things easier for your business but to profit themselves. Unfortunately, most SIM farms are likely run by scammers, and you can't be sure who you're giving your customers' sensitive data to. It is highly possible that the information shared by you is used to compromise subscribers’ safety and cause major losses.

Combating SIM farms

We recommend the use of SMS firewalls to detect and block suspicious SMS traffic, including spam messages sent from SMS farms. This can help mobile network operators, businesses, and customers by reducing spam and fraud, protecting subscriber privacy, improving network security, and enhancing the overall customer experience.

Partner with Decision Telecom for ethical mass messaging

As a licensed virtual telecom operator that officially provides its customers with direct communication channels, we categorically do not recommend that companies resort to deploying SIM farms for any kind of business communication.

Partner with Decision Telecom to run completely above-board bulk SMS messaging campaigns at flexible rates. Trust your business to a reliable and honest service provider!