Bhubaneswar, Sep 18 (IANS): Odisha Police has arrested two ex-employees of a mobile company for fraudulently swapping mobile SIMs without the knowledge of the genuine customers, a police official said on Saturday.

In a very unique type of fraud, the two accused have digitally transferred SIMs without the knowledge of the customers to prospective buyers through the internet using various online sites. The accused are identified as Keshab Chandra Dhir and Sanjat Kumar Panda, both from Bhubaneswar, the official said.

"A private telecom company had filed a complaint before Infocity PS alleging that 35 vanity mobile numbers or unique numbers (having multiple 1,5,9, etc), which are being sold at a premium rate, have been deactivated," said deputy commissioner of police (DCP), Bhubaneswar, Umashankar Dash.

During investigation, it was found that the two persons even after leaving the jobs, kept the Local Area Payment Unit (LAPU) numbers, which are used to recharge, activate SIM, digital SIM swap etc. And, digitally swap different vanity SIM by uploading fake documents, Dash said.

They activated the vanity mobile numbers in other SIM cards and sold it out to various persons outside the State, he further said.

He said these SIMs can be used for multiple purposes like stealing personal data of the original customer, using these SIMs to do bank fraud etc.

"We will bring the concerned officials of the telecom company, who have activated the SIM card with fake documents and the persons, who bought the SIMs," the DCP added.