I4C and RBIH sign MoU to tackle cyber fraud and mule accounts

Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that I4C and Reserve Bank Innovation Hub signed an MoU to combat cyber fraud and detect mule accounts using artificial intelligence. The collaboration aims to strengthen fraud detection systems and improve security across the banking ecosystem

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced that the country’s anti-cyber crime agency I4C signed an MoU with the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) to curb the menace of mule accounts used by cyber criminals to cheat unsuspecting victims.

In a message posted on X, he said mule accounts are a major hurdle in curbing cyber crimes.

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“Today, the I4C under MHA signed an MoU with Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH), unleashing the power of Artificial Intelligence to combat cyber fraud. The move will swiftly detect and eliminate hidden mule accounts by feeding data from the I4C’s Suspect Registry to the AI-driven fraud detection system and serve citizens as a next-generation shield against cyber crime,” Shah said.

Mule accounts are bank accounts used by criminals to illegally receive, transfer and launder the proceeds of cyber crimes, with or without the knowledge of account holders.

According to a statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), which functions under the ministry, and RBIH will strengthen collaboration in combating cyber-enabled financial frauds and curtailing mule accounts across the banking and digital payments ecosystem.

The collaboration reflects a broader regulatory push to safeguard digital payments infrastructure, which has become both a symbol of financial inclusion and an increasingly attractive target for organised cybercriminal networks.

The agreement seeks to strengthen preventive mechanisms by enabling faster detection of suspicious transactions and improving the identification of mule accounts, bank accounts used by fraudsters to siphon off and layer stolen money, it said.

“The MoU aims to facilitate cooperation in the areas of fraud-risk intelligence sharing, analytical support and operational coordination for strengthening proactive fraud detection and prevention mechanisms,” the statement said.

The MoU was signed by Roopa M, IG (Admin), I4C, and Sahil Kinni, CEO, RBIH, in the presence of senior officials from the Reserve Bank of India, I4C and RBIH.

“Under the MoU, I4C and RBIH will collaborate for sharing mule account-related intelligence and suspect identifiers from I4C-MHA’s Suspect Registry to strengthen AI-driven fraud detection systems such as MuleHunter.ai implemented across banks,” it said.

The statement said RBIH will utilise the datasets for training and enhancement of AI-driven fraud-risk assessment models, including MuleHunter.ai.