India has taken a major step to tackle the growing threat of cyber-enabled financial frauds with a new initiative focused on identifying and shutting down mule accounts used by cyber criminals.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced on Tuesday that the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) and the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen fraud detection and improve the safety of India’s expanding digital banking ecosystem.
Under the partnership, officials said the focus will be on fraud-risk intelligence sharing, analytical collaboration and operational coordination between law enforcement agencies and financial institutions. As part of the agreement, I4C will share intelligence related to suspicious bank accounts and cyber fraud networks from its Suspect Registry with RBIH. The move is expected to help banks detect suspicious financial activity faster and more accurately.
Sharing details of the initiative on social media platform X, Amit Shah said the government is committed to building a “Cyber Secure Bharat” and described mule accounts as a major challenge in the fight against cybercrime. He added that the collaboration would use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify and eliminate hidden mule accounts used to route and hide illegally obtained money.
Officials said the shared data will be integrated into AI-driven fraud detection systems, including platforms such as MuleHunter.ai™, which are being deployed across banking networks. These systems are designed to detect suspicious transaction behaviour, unusual digital payment patterns and linked account activity in real time to stop fraudulent transfers before funds are withdrawn or dispersed.
Cyber experts explained that mule accounts are often used by fraudsters to move stolen money through multiple layers to hide transaction trails and avoid detection. In many cases, unemployed youths, students and financially vulnerable individuals are offered commissions or easy-money deals to let criminal networks use their bank accounts. Such accounts have been linked to digital arrest scams, investment frauds, UPI-related cheating and fake call-centre operations in recent years.
Officials from the Ministry of Home Affairs said RBIH will use the shared datasets to train and improve AI-based fraud-risk assessment models. Authorities believe the initiative will strengthen India’s digital payments infrastructure and improve coordination between banks and investigative agencies.
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