Cybercriminals exploiting gaps in police coordination to run mule account networks

Cybercriminals are exploiting gaps in coordination between police wings to operate mule account networks across the country. Officials say better monitoring at the police station level could help track account holders and curb cyber fraud.

Hyderabad: Cybercriminals appear to be exploiting the lack of coordination between different wings of the police, to easily carry out their activities and mint money across the country.

Consider this case. A victim is financially duped by cyber fraudsters who conned him into transferring into a bank account. The police register a case and find out that the bank account, a mule account was opened in some district of Telangana, and upload the details in the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal (NCRP), managed by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) for follow up action.

---

Every state police have to check NCRP, collect the details of the mule accounts opened in banks in their jurisdiction and register FIRs. The cybercrime units in each district and commissionerates in coordination with the Telangana Cyber Security Bureau (TGSCB) identifies the mule account holders, arrest them.

“Thousands of accounts are opened from different banks across the State regularly. After identifying the persons who are operating the mule accounts, their arrest is effected and further legal proceedings initiated,” said an official of the TGCSB.

Here lies the lacuna. The officials point out the difficulties faced by cybercrime units in collecting details of the account holders and initiate action against them. “The local State House Officers (SHO) have access to the NCRP, they can as well check the details of the mule account holders in the portal, summon them and conduct enquiries. The work can be done at the police station level, but for some reasons the law and order police are avoiding the job leading to increased workload and on cybercrime units,” the official said.

As a result, special drives are being conducted to identify and nab the mule account holders affecting the investigation of cybercrime cases that require specialization, the official complained.

Officials feel that tracking the mule account operators will help reduce the cybercrimes across the country and workload on special units. It will also act as a deterrent to the mule account holders.
“In Kerala, the police have a mechanism where the local SHO assigns the task of checking the mule accounts operators and initiating action to his subordinate. Cases are registered at the police station level and followed up,” said the official.

Recently, in Suryapet district following a red flag by the national cyber -crime agencies, the police found several persons operating a syndicate involving the local villagers. The local police following the initiative of the TGSCB registered cases against the syndicate.

The account holders were paid a commission and the proceeds of the cybercrimes were transferred into the accounts. The victims belonged to other States.