Five men have been jailed for a combined 22 years and one month over a sophisticated mobile-phone fraud operation that investigators said caused over £1.5 million in losses to mobile-network providers.
The men were sentenced at Lincoln Crown Court on Friday, September 18, 2026, following an investigation by the Proactive Economic Crime Team of the East Midlands Special Operations Unit.
According to Lincolnshire Police, the criminal operation was run through businesses in Skegness, Louth and Birmingham, where the suspects allegedly used a fraudulent mobile-phone upgrade scheme to obtain handsets and divert them away from legitimate customers.
Police said the fraudsters posed as representatives of mobile-network providers and contacted customers with attractive offers to upgrade their phones. After obtaining victims’ personal and banking information, they allegedly used the customers’ genuine mobile accounts to order more expensive handsets.
However, instead of receiving the phones they had ordered, victims were sent different devices. The fraudsters would then contact the customers or direct them to a fake customer-service number, where they were told that the wrong handset had been delivered and had to be returned before the correct phone could be sent.
According to investigators, the returned phones were subsequently diverted to addresses controlled by the criminal network, while the promised replacement handsets never arrived.
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Police said their investigation uncovered approximately 1,635 mobile devices linked to the operation, with the estimated loss to network providers put at £1.635 million.
The investigation also uncovered alleged money-laundering activity. Police said large amounts of cash were moved through money-mule accounts, with some of the funds subsequently transferred to Pakistan.
The five men sentenced over the operation were Ghulam Dastgeer, 34, and Yasir Shahzad, 34, who were each sentenced to seven years in prison. Faraz Sohail, 27, was sentenced to three years and three months, while Ahsan Sohail, 30, received two years and 10 months. Muhammed Javed, 25, was sentenced to two years in prison. Together, the five men received a combined sentence of 22 years and one month.
Four of the men were convicted following an eight-week trial, with the jury returning its verdicts on June 26, 2026. Faraz Sohail later pleaded guilty at Lincoln Crown Court on August 5, 2026, to offences involving criminal property.
Lincolnshire Police said it would also seek a £1,786,460 confiscation order against the offenders in an effort to recover assets or profits obtained through the criminal operation.
The case has prompted renewed warnings to mobile-phone users to be cautious about unsolicited upgrade offers. Police are advising customers to arrange upgrades directly through their mobile-network provider or another legitimate retailer and to avoid sharing passwords, PINs or one-time verification codes with unexpected callers.
Consumers have also been urged to regularly check their mobile accounts for unfamiliar orders or changes and to contact their provider immediately if they discover activity they did not authorize.
