📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Mubarakansari
Crime
Pune Police Probe Mule Accounts Fueling Nationwide Cyber‑Fraud Rings
✍️ The Indian Express
🗓 21 Jul 2026, 03:48 AM
👁 38
Pune police have launched a probe into mule accounts that are being used to move stolen funds across India, exposing a widespread cyber‑fraud network.
Pune police have opened a new investigation into mule accounts that are being used to launder money from cyber‑fraud schemes across the country. The probe, part of the city’s ongoing cybercrime unit, focuses on identifying the financial pathways that allow stolen funds to be moved through multiple bank accounts.
Mule accounts—bank accounts held by individuals who receive and transfer illicit money—have become a key tool for fraudsters. By routing stolen money through these accounts, criminals can obscure the origin of the funds and make it difficult for authorities to trace the money trail.
Preliminary findings suggest that the network of mule accounts operates in several states, with transactions flowing from major metropolitan hubs to smaller towns. The investigation is looking at how these accounts are opened, the individuals involved, and the methods used to conceal the illicit activity.
Police officials say the operation is ongoing and that they are collaborating with financial institutions and other law‑enforcement agencies to shut down the accounts and bring the perpetrators to justice.
Mule accounts—bank accounts held by individuals who receive and transfer illicit money—have become a key tool for fraudsters. By routing stolen money through these accounts, criminals can obscure the origin of the funds and make it difficult for authorities to trace the money trail.
Preliminary findings suggest that the network of mule accounts operates in several states, with transactions flowing from major metropolitan hubs to smaller towns. The investigation is looking at how these accounts are opened, the individuals involved, and the methods used to conceal the illicit activity.
Police officials say the operation is ongoing and that they are collaborating with financial institutions and other law‑enforcement agencies to shut down the accounts and bring the perpetrators to justice.