Govt considers blocking suspicious accounts & handsets to prevent cyber fraud

NEW DELHI: The government is considering deploying a series of measures to curb the growing menace of cyber frauds in the financial sector, including blocking the IMEI, the unique number of mobile devices, and restricting withdrawals from suspicious accounts to prevent its use in future incidents.

After a meeting with representatives from RBI, TRAI, National Payments Corporation of India and the IT ministry, financial services secretary Vivek Joshi said that one of the targets was “inert” and “mule” bank accounts, which have low balance but see a sudden surge. In these cases, caps on transfer or withdrawal of funds are options that are discussed. Mule accounts are those that are used by fraudsters to collect or transfer funds. In case of cyber frauds, money siphoned off from an account is often routed through multiple accounts and withdrawn, making it tough for law enforcement agencies and banks to act.