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Shah Launches CBI Cyber Branch, Urges Banks to Use ‘Mule Account Hunter’ in Fraud Crackdown

The drive prioritizes real-time fund freezes using bank-level controls to choke mule accounts, speeding relief for victims.

Overview

  • At a two-day CBI–I4C conference in New Delhi, the Home Minister also unveiled I4C’s S4C dashboard and set a push for coordinated, tech-driven policing.
  • He told all public, private and cooperative banks to immediately adopt the Mule Account Hunter software and pressed police to staff the 1930 cybercrime helpline for rapid response.
  • Officials reported ₹8,189 crore frozen or returned out of an estimated ₹20,000 crore defrauded till November 30, 2025, with 8.2 million complaints logged and 1.84 lakh converted into FIRs.
  • Enforcement measures cited include cancelling about 12 lakh SIMs, blocking 3 lakh device IMEIs and arresting 20,853 suspects, with 62 financial institutions onboarded to I4C systems by December 2025.
  • The push follows a Supreme Court order that termed ₹52,000–54,000 crore siphoned by digital frauds as ‘robbery’ and sought a national SOP with RBI input while directing the CBI to identify digital-arrest cases.