Cyber crime: Woman booked for misusing bank account in ₹70.85 lakh fraud case

The Cyber Crime Police have registered a case against a woman for allegedly misusing the current bank account of her husband’s friend to route funds amounting to ₹70.85 lakh in connection with a cyber fraud.

According to the complaint, the victim had known a person named Vijay for nearly 15 years, through whom he was introduced to his wife, identified as Prathima Kumar.

Also Read | Cyber crackdown: On the investigation into cyber-crime

The accused allegedly obtained the victim’s current account details, including net banking ID, password and linked mobile number, through WhatsApp on December 2025 with an assurance that she would use it for foreign trips, trekking and other adventure events and promised to pay the GST and taxes related to her transactions .

Police said the accused subsequently changed the mobile number linked to the bank account and used the account to carry out transactions totalling ₹70,85,137 on February 3, 2026. The amount is suspected to be proceeds of cyber fraud that were illegally routed through the complainant’s account.

The fraud came to light after officials from the cyber crime wing, acting on information received through the online cybercrime portal, visited the complainant’s residence for verification.

Based on the complaint, a case has been registered at the police station concerned. The accused has been booked under Sections 66(C) and 66(D) of the IT Act, along with Sections 318(4) and 319(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.

This is one of many cases wherein the bank accounts of people are being misused for cyber crimes.

Drive against mule accounts

The Karnataka Cyber Command has intensified its statewide special drive against mule bank accounts and “mule herders,” uncovering a large network involved in routing proceeds of cyber fraud across the State.

According to an updated report released by Pronab Mohanty, DGP, Cyber Command, the special operations launched last week have led to significant breakthroughs. Since December 2025 through February 2026, police have identified 60 cases linked to organised mule account operations.

A total of 869 mule bank accounts were identified during the crackdown. These accounts were allegedly used to channel funds obtained through various cyber frauds. As many as 8,788 complaints were registered on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP) against the identified mule accounts.

The total amount involved in the NCRP-linked cyber crimes stands at ₹85.05 crore, of which ₹13.43 crore has been successfully put on hold by authorities.

68 arrests made

Investigations revealed that mule herders collected personal documents and information from unsuspecting individuals and opened multiple bank accounts, often in the names of relatives. These accounts were then operated in a systematic, business-like manner to aggregate, layer and transfer illicit funds linked to cyber offences.

As part of the operation, 68 key accused persons have been arrested. Police have obtained 32 search warrants and conducted 35 searches across various locations in Karnataka.

During the searches, officers seized 68 ATM cards, 32 passbooks, 35 mobile phones, 37 cheque books, 28 SIM cards and 22 other incriminating materials.

The Cyber Command stated that the crackdown will continue in the coming weeks to dismantle remaining networks facilitating cyber fraud in the State.