Over 19 lakh mule accounts unearthed, Rs 2,038 crore worth of fraud prevented, says Amit Shah

Cyber crime

The government identified more than 19 lakh mule accounts — bank accounts used to funnel illegal funds—and prevented suspicious transactions worth Rs 2,038 crore, home minister Amit Shah said on February 11.

Criminals use mule accounts to launder illicit funds, often through individuals lured by the promise of easy money or through coercion. The fund transfer through these inter-connected accounts makes in challenging for the Reserve Bank of India to trace and recover the funds.

Speaking at a meeting of parliamentary consultative committee for the ministry of home, Shah underscored the scale of digital fraud in India and said artificial intelligence (AI) will be deployed to detect and shut down mule accounts before they can become operational. The meeting was called to discuss cyber security and cyber crime.

Shah said the ministry in collaboration with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and all banks is working to establish a real-time detection system to block these fraudulent accounts at their inception.

The Reserve Bank of India Innovation Hub (RBIH), a subsidiary of RBI, has developed an AI artificial and machine learning (AI/ML) model, MuleHunter AI, which helps banks and financial institutions detect such accounts amid rising concern over fraud enabled through these accounts.

Also read: Of mules & phishing in the dark web — how scamsters played us

The home minister also said over 1.43 lakh FIRs have been registered on the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) portal, which has been accessed by more than 19 crore citizens to report cyber frauds.

Based on I4C’s recommendations, 805 fraudulent apps and 3,266 website links have been blocked over security concerns. As many as 399 banks and financial intermediaries have joined forces with I4C to curb cybercrime, and more than six lakh suspicious data points shared with enforcement agencies for further action.