Comment by jacquesm

That story was overblown. But it wasn't bogus. SIM farms exist, this was one of them and it definitely wasn't put there for the general good of the population. They're common enough that the UK has specific legislation targeting acquisition and use of these devices.

Which parts of the story were embellished and who they were embellished by is an interesting question but the degree to which the original story being bogus is balanced out nicely by the degree to which this article (and the overblown title) itself is bogus.

The facts: a SIM farm was discovered. It had a very large number of active SIMS. It was found in NYC. It was active when it was found.

What is speculative/hard to verify:

It was used for specific swatting attempts. It was put there by nation state level actors rather than just ordinary criminals.

What is most likely bullshit:

That it had anything to do with the UN headquarters being close by.

But that still leaves plenty of meat on the bone.