In a major move to tackle rising cyber fraud, the government has announced a new partnership aimed at detecting and blocking suspicious bank accounts often used by scammers to move stolen money.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) has signed an MoU with Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) to strengthen fraud detection across the banking and digital payments ecosystem.

"Modi govt is tirelessly working for cyber secure Bharat. Mule accounts are big hurdles in curbing cyber crimes. Today, the I4C under MHA signed an MoU with Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) unleashing the power of Artificial Intelligence to combat cyber fraud. The move will swiftly detect and cull hidden mule accounts by feeding the data from the I4C's Suspect Registry to the AI-driven fraud detection system and serve the citizens as their next gen shield against cyber crime.," Amit Shah said in a post on X.

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What are mule accounts?

Mule accounts are bank accounts used by cyber criminals to receive, transfer or launder money obtained through scams. In some cases, account holders may not even realise their accounts are being misused.

These accounts are commonly linked to online frauds involving fake investment schemes, phishing links, OTP scams and digital payment frauds.

AI to help banks detect fraud faster

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the collaboration will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to identify suspicious transactions and hidden mule accounts more quickly.

"Today, the I4C under MHA signed an MoU with Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH), unleashing the power of Artificial Intelligence to combat cyber fraud," Shah said.