Someone offers you ₹1,500–₹5,000 to "rent" your bank account for a few days
You are offered cash or a percentage commission to let someone use your bank account or UPI for 'business transfers.' The account is used to route cyber fraud proceeds — then frozen by police, and you may be arrested as a co-conspirator.
Also known as: bank account rent scam, money mule recruitment India, account rental fraud, UPI mule scam
Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes
Call 1930 now- 1 Call 1930 — the national cyber-crime helpline — right now. The sooner you report, the better the chance of freezing the money before it moves.
- 2 Call your bank to freeze the account and block the card immediately. Use the number printed on your card, never a number from the message or caller.
- 3 File a report at cybercrime.gov.in and keep every message, screenshot, and transaction ID.
What to do right now
- 1 Refuse immediately — sharing bank credentials with anyone outside your bank is illegal under RBI guidelines
- 2 Providing your account to launder fraud proceeds is punishable under IPC Sections 403, 406, and 420 — even if you did not know the money was stolen
- 3 If you already shared credentials, call your bank immediately to block the account, change your UPI PIN, and report to your bank's fraud helpline
- 4 If your account has been frozen by police, contact a lawyer and approach the nearest cybercrime police station with your transaction records
- 5 Report at https://cybercrime.gov.in or call 1930 (national cyber helpline).
Red flags
- ⚠ No legitimate business routes payments through a stranger's personal bank account
- ⚠ You are asked to share your UPI PIN, net-banking login, debit card, or account number with someone you just met online
- ⚠ The offer arrives through social media ads, Telegram, or WhatsApp promising ₹1,500–₹5,000 per week for 'doing nothing'
- ⚠ The recruiter calls it 'just for a few days' or 'temporary business need' but never provides a real company name or contract
Sources
- The420.in — 'Lure of 3.5% Commission': Bank Accounts Turned Into Tools of Fraud Across 16 States
- Free Press Journal — Engineering Student Uses Friend's Bank Account As Mule Account, ₹7 Crore Routed in Bengaluru
- The420.in — Sikar: Job Promise Scam Leads to Fake Bank Account Fraud
- I4C — Mule Account Advisory
- The420.in — ₹1 Lakh Complaint Exposes ₹152 Crore Cyber Fraud Network Across 14 States (May 2026)
- The420.in — Delhi Police Bust ₹40 Crore Cyber Fraud Network, 35 Arrested Across 7 States (May 2026)
- The420.in — Delhi Police Arrested Three, Bust Interstate Cyber Fraud Syndicate Using Mule Accounts (June 2026)
- Free Press Journal — Engineering Student Uses Friend's Bank Account As Mule Account, ₹7 Crore Routed in Bengaluru