A man was arrested in São Paulo for operating a clandestine setup to send fraudulent SMS messages with malicious links, in an operation named “Erbs Fake”. The suspect, 26-year-old Moacir do Carmo Magalhães, was taken into custody on Monday, February 23, in an apartment in the Aclimação neighborhood.

The Civil Police investigation, with technical support from Anatel (the National Telecommunications Agency), identified the apartment as the source of irregular signals interfering with official cell phone networks. Authorities used tracking equipment to pinpoint the origin of the signals to the specific address.

Upon entering the apartment, accompanied by the building manager, police found Magalhães along with the equipment used in the scheme. Officers seized two cell phones, a notebook, a telecommunications antenna, a transmitter, and a car. Magalhães informally confessed to being responsible for the devices. The case was registered as computer device invasion and attempted electronic fraud, with the seized items sent for forensic analysis.