PANAJI
Security agencies in Jammu and Kashmir have identified and frozen more than 8,000 suspected “mule accounts” over the past three years, in a coordinated effort to disrupt financial channels linked to organised cyber fraud and potential anti-national activities.
Officials said the accounts function as the financial backbone of global scam networks, enabling stolen funds to be routed, layered and converted into harder-to-trace digital assets, including cryptocurrency. Describing mule accounts as the “weakest yet most crucial link” in the cybercrime chain, authorities noted that without such accounts, fraudulently obtained money cannot be effectively moved or concealed.
Central agencies have urged the Jammu and Kashmir Police and banking institutions to intensify scrutiny of suspicious transactions and identify intermediaries — commonly referred to as “mules” — who arrange and supply these accounts to scammers. Unlike those who directly contact victims, mules primarily recruit account holders, often luring ordinary individuals with promises of easy commissions and minimal risk. In many cases, account holders surrender full control of their banking credentials.
Investigations have revealed that a single scam operator may simultaneously use between 10 and 30 mule accounts. Some accounts are reportedly opened in the names of fictitious companies, enabling high-value transactions — sometimes up to Rs 40 lakh in a day — without triggering immediate red flags. Funds are typically transferred across multiple accounts in quick succession and broken into smaller sums to complicate detection.
Officials indicated that, following earlier crackdowns on illicit money flows into the region, some networks may have shifted to a “digital hawala” model, with commissions from mule accounts allegedly diverted for unlawful activities. Security agencies have also flagged the use of private crypto wallets and VPN-based operations to evade oversight.
Authorities stressed that even if mule account holders are not directly involved in designing scams, their participation makes them active facilitators of financial crime.
