MHA warns against illegal payment gateways running through mule accounts 

A statement by MHA said the proceeds of such crimes are immediately layered into another account as soon as the crime proceeds are received

The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) under the Union Home Ministry has issued an alert against illegal payment gateways created using mule bank accounts by transnational organised cyber criminals facilitating money laundering as a service.

MHA said that recent nation-wide raids by Gujarat Police and Andhra Pradesh Police have revealed that trans-national criminals have created illegal digital payment gateways using mule or rented bank accounts. This illegal infrastructure facilitating money laundering as a service are used for laundering proceeds of multiple nature of cybercrimes, MHA said. 

As reported by The Hindu on October 24, mule bank accounts were one of the significant contributors to the online financial scams that could potentially siphon off 0.7% of the country’s GDP.

According to a presentation by I4C, seen by The Hindu, around 4,000 mule bank accounts are identified everyday by investigating agencies.

“As per the information received from State Police Agencies and analysis by I4C, current accounts and saving accounts are scouted through social media, majorly from Telegram and Facebook. These accounts belong to shell companies / enterprise or individuals.

These mule accounts are controlled remotely from overseas,” MHA said. 

It added that an illegal payment gateway is then created using the mule accounts which are given to criminal syndicates for accepting deposits on illegal platforms like fake investment scam sites, offshore betting and gambling websites, fake stock trading platforms etc.

“Funds are immediately layered to another account as soon as the crime proceeds are received. Bulk Payout facility provided by banks are misused for the same,” it said.

Some of the payment gateways identified during operation are PeacePay, RTX Pay, PoccoPay, RPPay etc. These gateways are learnt to be providing Money Laundering as a Service and are operated by foreign nationals, MHA said. 

I4C has advised citizens not to sell or rent their bank accounts/company registration certificate/Udhyam Aadhaar Registration certificate to anyone. Illicit funds deposited in such bank accounts can lead to legal consequences, including arrest. “Banks may deploy checks to identify misuse of bank accounts that are used for setting up Illegal Payment Gateways. The citizens must immediately report any cybercrime on helpline number 1930 or www.cybercrime.gov.in,” MHA said.

Published - October 28, 2024 08:57 pm IST