Hyderabad police chief seeks RBI support to curb mule accounts fuelling cyber fraud

Hyderabad City Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar on Friday, December 19, 2025, called for a paradigm shift in combating cybercrime and financial fraud, urging the Reserve Bank of India to play a more proactive role in strangling the flow of money that perpetuates digital scams.

In a courtesy meeting with RBI Governor and Lieutenant Governor Swaminathan at the RBI’s Hyderabad regional office, Sajjanar described “mule accounts” as the oxygen that keeps cybercrime networks alive. He pushed for the implementation of the mulecatcher tool across banks to identify and prevent misuse of such accounts.

The commissioner explained that fraudsters routinely lure students and daily wage workers to open bank accounts with commissions ranging from ₹2,000 to ₹5,000, which are then used to route money withdrawn from the victims. Stolen funds are often routed to these mule accounts within minutes, making recovery difficult, he noted.

To solve this problem, Sajjanar suggested creating a special central database to identify and track mule accounts between banks. He also called for stricter implementation of know your customer (KYC) norms and better due diligence by banks at the account opening stage.

Highlighting delays hindering investigations, he recommended faster sharing of technical evidence by banks, including standardized bank statements containing all relevant details, and closer coordination with central institutions.

Responding to concerns, the RBI Governor said that both the central bank and commercial banks have already taken several steps to reduce digital fraud and will continue to strengthen the payment ecosystem. He assured the police of a positive approach and said appropriate measures would be taken to resolve the issues raised.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Crimes) M. Srinivasulu, DCP (Central Crime Station) Shweta and DCP (Cyber ​​Crimes) Aravind Babu were part of the police delegation.