Kota police, under the 'Mule Hunter' campaign, have arrested two individuals for allegedly committing online fraud, targeting victims as far away as Murshidabad, West Bengal. The arrests followed an analysis of suspected mule accounts and mobile numbers, revealing fraudulent transactions and prompting charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the IT Act.
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said on Friday said the central bank has developed an innovative artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI/ML) based model MuleHunter.ai to address the growing issue of mule bank accounts that are often used for committing financial fraud. Developed by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub, the new initiative is piloted with two public sector banks.
Financial Services Secretary M Nagaraju has urged banks to adopt the MuleHunter AI tool developed by RBI to identify and prevent mule accounts used in cyber financial frauds. The meeting also discussed 'Operation Octopus' by Hyderabad Police and emphasised coordinated efforts and intelligence sharing.
Hyderabad Police Commissioner V C Sajjanar convened a meeting with bankers to address the misuse of bank accounts in cyber frauds and implement preventative measures, following 'Operation Octopus' which dismantled cyber fraud networks and led to arrests of complicit bank officials.
The amount involved in banking system frauds surged to Rs 21,515 crore in the first half of FY26, up 30 per cent from the same period last year, even as the number of frauds fell 2.8 times to 5,092.
By enabling real-time data sharing, the platform will help prevent scams and ensure secure transactions.
State-owned banks have received guidance from the government to close Jan Dhan accounts whose beneficiaries are unwilling to keep them active, amid rising instances of such accounts being misused by fraudsters as mule accounts to defraud people, people aware of the development said.
Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Wednesday exhorted the fledgling fintech ecosystem to focus on the underserved sections of the society to deepen financial inclusion. Speaking at the annual Global Fintech Fest in Mumbai, Malhotra accepted that serving the "privileged" will be a lucrative business, but urged the smaller companies to focus on the underserved.
The number of digital financial frauds rose more than four times in FY24 year-on-year to comprise 80 per cent of all financial frauds.
This marks a 67% increase from the Rs 2,537 crore lost in scams in 2022-2023.
'The central bank has highlighted that the slowdown in growth has been limited to a few sectors and overall growth is expected to pick up in the second half of the year.'
A sneak peek of some extraordinary entries for the 60th annual Wildlife Photographer of the Year event.
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