Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), Ministry of Home Affairs, and Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen collaboration in combating cyber-enabled financial frauds and curtailing mule accounts across the banking and digital payments ecosystem. The MoU aims to facilitate cooperation in the areas of fraud-risk intelligence sharing, analytical support, and operational coordination for strengthening proactive fraud detection and prevention mechanisms.

Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah, posted on X, “Modi govt is tirelessly working for cyber secure Bharat. Mule accounts are big hurdles in curbing cyber crimes. Today, the I4C under MHA signed an MoU with Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) unleashing the power of Artificial Intelligence to combat cyber fraud. The move will swiftly detect and cull hidden mule accounts by feeding the data from the I4C's Suspect Registry to the AI-driven fraud detection system and serve the citizens as their next gen shield against cyber crime.”

The MoU was signed by Smt Roopa M, IG (Admin), I4C and Shri Sahil Kinni, CEO, RBIH in the presence of Shri Rohit Jain, Deputy Governor, RBI; Shri Anand Swaroop, Special Secretary (IS), MHA; Shri Rakesh Rathi, JS (CIS), MHA; Shri Rajesh Kumar, CEO, I4C; and other senior officers from RBI, RBIH and I4C.

Under the MoU, I4C and RBIH will collaborate for sharing of mule account related intelligence and suspect identifiers from I4C-MHA’s Suspect Registry to strengthen AI-driven fraud detection systems such as MuleHunter.ai™ implemented across banks. RBIH will utilise the datasets for training and enhancement of AI-driven fraud-risk assessment models, including MuleHunter.ai™.

The I4C has been actively working towards strengthening and collaborating for India’s cybercrime response ecosystem through platforms such as the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP), Suspect Registry and other intelligence-sharing mechanisms. RBIH, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Reserve Bank of India, has been promoting innovation in the financial sector through technology-led initiatives and development of AI-enabled fraud detection frameworks aimed at strengthening the safety and resilience of the digital payments ecosystem and thereby increasing the trust of the citizen in the digital banking ecosystem.