Three people were recently arrested in Delhi for allegedly supplying and using mule bank accounts to facilitate cyber fraud. According to the allegations, the account holders provided access to their bank accounts to receive proceeds from cyber fraud in exchange for commissions.
In a separate case, police in Maharashtra's Thane district busted a cyberfraud syndicate allegedly involved in fraudulent transactions worth ₹57.25 crore through several mule accounts.
A mule account is a bank or financial account used by criminals to receive, hold or transfer illegally obtained money. Such accounts can be operated by the criminals themselves or by individuals who knowingly or unknowingly allow their accounts to be used for suspicious transactions.
Customers can become involved in such arrangements through fake job offers, easy-money schemes, fraudulent investment opportunities or low-interest loan offers. Unused or dormant bank accounts can also pose a risk if they are not regularly monitored.
Experts advise customers to be particularly cautious about unsolicited job offers, schemes promising easy money and requests to "rent" or "lend" a bank account.
Never allow anyone else to use your bank account
Shailendra Awasthi, Leader Technology at chartered accountancy firm Bhuta Shah & Co LLP, said customers should not treat their bank accounts as facilities that can be lent to others.
“The biggest mistake customers make is treating their bank account as a facility that can be ‘lent’ to someone else. Your bank account should only be used for transactions that you personally understand and are responsible,” Awasthi said.
He advised customers never to allow another person to use their account to receive or transfer money, even if they are promised a commission.
According to Awasthi, fraudsters are increasingly recruiting people through fake jobs, investment opportunities, social media and messaging platforms and asking them to receive and transfer funds.
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