PATNA: Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of Bihar police has launched a comprehensive drive against cybercriminals by detecting mule accounts and checking their operations.
EOU is keeping a strict vigil on any suspected activities by bankers and customer service centre (CSC) operators across the state.
In the last two years, the number of mule accounts has risen alarmingly as cyber criminals are using these accounts for illegal transactions and money laundering, officials of EOU said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had recently lodged an FIR against a branch manager of Punjab and Sindh Bank and 17 others in this connection.
During the investigation, it was found that transactions involving an amount of Rs 1,084 crore were done through 13 such accounts, opened on the basis of fake KYC documents.
Although the cybercrime’s nerve centre was Punjab, its links might be as far as up to Bihar and in view of it, Bihar police’s investigating agencies have also been alerted.
EOU’s additional director general (ADG) N H Khan recently said that EOU was taking concrete steps against cybercriminals. He also stressed the need for people’s cooperation to make the drive against cybercriminals more effective.
“EOU appeals to the common people not to get bank accounts opened in others’ names in the lust of commissions or easy money, and also not allow other people to operate their accounts,” he added.
CBI, a few days ago, arrested an assistant manager of Canara Bank and an officer of Axis Bank in Patna for their involvement in making mule accounts available to cybercriminals.
Bankers are also providing tips to cybercriminals to bypass, evade, or minimise the triggering of “red flag” systems, such as transaction monitoring algorithms designed to detect unusual activity.
EOU sources said that cybercriminals were opening mule accounts in nexus with CSC operators, functioning in the state’s rural and bordering areas.
EOU has also written letters to all SPs for taking action in connection with 616 mule accounts. Due to prompt action by EOU, an amount of around Rs 107 crore was withheld, and Rs 8 crore was also refunded to victims.