2:30 PM IST – India’s digital economy has reached a stage where fraud networks are not just attacking individuals, BUT Also they are attacking the banking system itself. As per the Free Press Journal’s Recent story, Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra has now confirmed a number that exposes the real scale of the threat: 20,000 mule accounts are being detected every single month. The detection is not happening through any manual audits, basic software, or routine compliance filters.
It is happening because of MuleHunter.ai. It is an AI-driven risk engine built by the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) that is now being integrated across major Indian banks.
During an interaction or public speech at the Delhi School of Economics, the Governor said the AI tool is “showing a good success rate” and that India is “very close to our target of onboarding 20 banks.”
He added that digital fraud is reviewed at both the Governor and Deputy Governor level, indicating how seriously the RBI is treating the rising threat.
Understanding Mule Accounts: The Hidden Layer of Digital Fraud
These bank accounts are used to receive, move, or withdraw money from online scams or frauds. These accounts do not belong to any direct fraudster or a gang. But they are used as middlemen to hide the money trail.
If online scams are the front-end, mule accounts are the underground pipelines keeping them alive and exposed. These accounts receive money collected through:
- Investment scam transfers
- Fake RBI/Police calls demanding ‘penalty’
- Courier scam extortions
- Fake Bank customer care or WhatsApp Fake Bank Notifications, such as YONO (recently popular)
- UPI/PAN misuse
- Digital arrest scam payments
Fraudsters move money through around 8 to 40 layers of mule accounts within a 7 to 12-minute cycle. It makes the trail almost impossible to trace manually.
What MuleHunter.ai Actually Detects
Unlike old rule-based systems that collapse when fraud patterns change, MuleHunter.ai learns from the behaviour of millions of accounts.
Key AI Signals MuleHunter Tracks
- High-velocity movement: Instant debit after every credit
- Abnormal source clusters: Money from many unrelated senders
- Spiky activity: A dormant account gets an amount such as ₹60,000–₹90,000 in one hour
- Chain routing: A → B → C → D transfers within seconds (a pure cycle usually detects)
- Inconsistent KYC behaviour: Device/IP mismatch, location anomalies
- Network similarity: Patterns matching known scam profiles
This is how the system can flag 20,000 mule accounts each month, with reported accuracy crossing 85%–90% in multiple banks.
Data Snapshot: India’s Growing Mule-Account Problem
| Metric | Before AI Tools | With MuleHunter.ai |
|---|---|---|
| Detection Time | 7–21 days | Near real-time |
| Avg. Monthly Mule Accounts Found | 2,000–4,000 | ~20,000 |
| Detection Accuracy | Low, rule-based | 85%–90% |
| Banks Onboarded | < 5 | High double digits (near RBI target) |
| Customer Complaints Escalated | Rising | Declining in integrated banks |
Why This Matters for Banks: Lower Fraud Losses, Lower NPA Pressure
Unlike this, traditional systems focused only on blocking suspicious transactions.
Unlike that, MuleHunter focuses on preventing fraud before it becomes a financial liability.
Banks lose crores every year due to:
- Compensation payouts to scammed customers
- Reversal liabilities
- Undetected mule-linked loan fraud
- Compliance penalties
- Loss of customer trust
By eliminating the mule network early, MuleHunter reduces:
- Fraud write-offs
- Operational load on fraud teams
- Future NPA creation where mule-linked accounts distort credit flow
This is why banks see AI not as an optional tool, but as a risk shield.
What the RBI Governor Said
Governor Sanjay Malhotra highlighted three key developments:
1. MuleHunter has strong adoption momentum
“We are very close to our intermediate milestone of 20 banks,” he said.
2. The system has a ‘good success rate’
The Governor emphasised that the tool is already proving effective in curbing mule activity.
3. Digital fraud is now a top-level regulatory priority
- He noted that fraud trends are reviewed directly at the Governor and Deputy Governor levels. It directly tells us the seriousness of the issue.
- He also confirmed stronger coordination with the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Home Ministry.
Why Customers Must Stay Alert
Even with strong AI, the RBI cautions customers not to:
- Share OTPs
- Respond to calls promising unrealistic returns
- Send money to accounts claiming to be “RBI-verified”
- Download unknown apps sent by strangers
Join International Fraud Awareness Week and share it with others.
