India police crack down on cyber fraud and mule accounts

Law enforcement agencies in India are intensifying efforts to combat rising cybercrime through targeted crackdowns on fraudulent banking practices.

In Rajasthan, police have launched a major campaign against individuals who rent out their bank accounts, known as ‘mule accounts,’ to cybercriminals for commissions. Within three months, authorities identified over 10,000 suspicious account holders and issued official notices summoning them for questioning. Failure to comply with these notices may result in direct arrest and imprisonment. This action follows a surge in reported incidents, with over 142,000 cyber fraud complaints filed in the state as of September 2026. To improve response times, the number of cyber helpline lines has been increased from 30 to 53.

In Patna, a criminal gang was dismantled for orchestrating a sophisticated scam involving fake bank customer care numbers. The group manipulated official 11-digit banking numbers by removing the leading ‘1’ to create deceptive 10-digit mobile numbers. They also attempted to manipulate Google Business Profiles and Google Maps to display these fraudulent numbers to unsuspecting customers. By posing as bank officials, the group defrauded victims of over 30 million rupees through tactics such as requesting OTPs under the guise of increasing credit limits or updating utility bills. Four suspects have been arrested and placed in judicial custody.