Kalpetta: On September 2, a team from Kohima Police arrived in Wayanad with a warrant to arrest 27-year-old Ismayil. Officers from Nagaland said that a fraudulent transaction worth ₹4.2 lakh was routed through the accounts of an Echome native. 

He was the latest victim of a growing fraud called the mule account scam, where unsuspecting bank customers unknowingly get involved in a financial crime by allowing fraudsters to use their bank accounts to launder stolen or illegal money.

Scamsters may pose as employers, acquaintances or online contacts and promise commissions for “receiving and forwarding” funds. Once entrapped, their bank accounts are used to launder money, making them the money mules. 

Wayand Police believe that hundreds of people from the district, including students, have fallen prey to the scam. According to police, three such mule account cases have been reported from Kambalakkad police station limits in Wayanad, and from other districts in the Malabar region. 

Before arresting Ismail, Kohima Police had served a notice through Wayanad Police, asking him to report to Kohima for interrogation. But he refused. Then a team from Nagaland came early this month to Wayanad to arrest him. 

In another case, the Dehradun Police from Uttarakhand issued a notice to Muhammed Fanish, 28, a resident in Kambalakkad police station limits, in connection with a ₹58,000 fraudulent transaction routed through his account. In yet another case, the Lucknow Police registered a case against Salmath, a woman from Kambalakkad, after her phone number was used in a scam. She told police that her younger brother had handed over her SIM card to somebody without her knowledge.

Wayanad Superintendent of Police Taposh Basumatari told Onmanorama that many from the districts have fallen victim to the scam, lured in by the false promise to make some quick money. After gaining access to the victims' accounts, fraudsters use them to route large sums. "The cheating happens somewhere else, maybe in Kohima or Lucknow. But the money is routed to the mules' accounts here, from where it is rerouted to some other accounts or withdrawn by the perpetrators," he said. 

He said the Cyber Police team also travels to other states as part of such investigations, since the bank accounts used by fraudsters were registered in the names of persons living in other states, he pointed out. 

"Normally, we enlist the account holder (the mule) as a witness, and in some cases as an accused. The Kohima Police treated Ismail as an accused and arrested him," he said.

"We have been campaigning among youths against allowing others to access their accounts. Once entrapped, it's not easy to get out," he said.

Wayanad Cyber Police Station Inspector Shaju Joseph told Onmanorama that in most cases, the middlemen approach youngsters offering them from ₹5,000 to ₹10,000, in return for their passbook, online password, and ATM card. In some cases, they are instructed to hand over the SIM card associated with the account for future transactions. The scam surfaces only when some agency registers a case against the account holder or the account is frozen after fraudulent transactions are detected, he said.

The Cyber Police wing had recently arrested people from Assam, Odisha, and many other states in such fraudulent transactions after tracking their bank accounts.  

According to Kambalakkad Police Inspector M A Santhosh, so far, only three cases have been reported from his police station limits. "But there may be more, as we have reports that more and more youngsters have fallen victim to such frauds." 

More cases in Malabar
According to Kerala police, the scamsters have been spreading their network across the Malabar region. The highest number of mule accounts was traced and frozen in Ernakulam district (6,107), followed by Malappuram (2,090). 

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) have been tracking such fraudulent transactions and have arrested middlemen who source bank accounts for the racketeers operating from the Gulf. 

In the Malabar region, the first major arrest was recorded in August in Kasaragod. Police arrested a woman based in the Gulf when she returned home based on a complaint by a 21-year-old woman. The accused used to supply bank accounts to money laundering and online fraud networks, the complaint said.