3 Years in Jail for SIM Swap Fraud and Benefit App Hack

Manama: The High Criminal Court sentenced a 36-year-old man to three years in prison and fined him 3,000 Bahraini dinars after he obtained a replacement SIM card in a businessman’s name and used it to access his bank account through the Benefit App, stealing 2,490 dinars.

According to the case, the victim — a 42-year-old Gulf businessman — had given the defendant a limited power of attorney to manage certain company matters in Bahrain. The authorization allowed him to open bank accounts but did not permit him to access funds or use the victim’s phone number.

Taking advantage of the businessman’s absence from Bahrain, the defendant obtained a replacement SIM card linked to the victim’s number. This allowed him to receive verification codes and activate the victim’s accounts on the Benefit app, after which he transferred 2,490 dinars in two transactions — one to his own account and another to his daughter’s.

The victim later discovered the issue after noticing his phone line had stopped working and learning from the bank that transfers had been made through the Benefit application.

A telecom employee testified that the defendant presented the power of attorney to obtain the replacement SIM card. Financial records later confirmed that the transfers were carried out shortly after the account was activated, with verification codes sent to the same phone number.

Bank documents confirmed that the defendant and his daughter were the beneficiaries of the transferred amounts, leading the court to convict him of fraud and unauthorized access to financial systems.