Sajjanar calls for strict action against mule accounts in banks

Hyderabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar urged banks to adopt strict measures to prevent mule accounts and cyber fraud. He proposed a twin-challenge framework, stronger KYC norms, and accountability mechanisms to improve customer safety and institutional integrity

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Commissioner of Police, VC Sajjanar, held a meeting with bankers to discuss the steps to be initiated to prevent mule accounts and ensure strict surveillance. The coordination meeting was attended by 75 representatives from 45 public and private sector banks.

The Commissioner recommended the introduction of a twin-challenge framework to reorient bank branch priorities away from account-opening targets and towards citizen safety and institutional integrity.

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He strongly advocated that both these challenges should be embedded as formal Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) at the branch level, with branches achieving compliance to be formally recognised and rewarded by higher officials of the bank.

Sajjanar suggested that banks should ensure that no customer of the branch falls victim to cyber crime. This can be achieved through strict KYC compliance, enhanced due diligence, and real-time monitoring, which are the operational requirements underlying this target.

The Commissioner emphasised that bank managements must not treat the volume of account openings as a performance metric. Branches that prioritise targets over diligence are the primary entry points for fraud networks. Safe customers and zero mule account outcomes, not account volumes, must define branch performance.

The Hyderabad CP recommended that banks must adopt a policy of zero tolerance towards cyber crime at every level of the organisation, from frontline staff to senior management.

Bank staff must demonstrate empathy and offer prompt, structured support to customers who have fallen victim to cyber fraud, including guiding victims to the national helpline (1930) and the cyber crime portal.

Strict disciplinary action must be taken against KYC verifiers found involved in fraudulent account openings, accompanied by periodic forensic audits of accounts opened by flagged officials. Any employee found complicit with cyber criminals should be blacklisted across the banking and financial services ecosystem.

Sajjanar suggested that advanced technological tools, including solutions such as Mule Hunter, must be adopted to detect and prevent mule account activity in real time.

Customers seeking to prematurely close fixed deposits must be proactively cautioned and verified, particularly where fund transfers are involved, to intercept cyber fraud in progress, he added.