No bank customer should be victim of cyber frauds: Sajjanar

Metro India News | Hyderabad 

Hyderabad Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar has directed bank officials to focus on customer security rather than merely chasing account opening targets, emphasizing that no customer should fall victim to cyber fraud. Speaking at a coordination meeting held on Thursday with senior bank officials at the TGICC in Banjara Hills, the Commissioner stressed that the primary goal of banks should be to protect customers from cybercrimes.

The meeting was attended by RBI Regional Director Chinmay Kumar, Additional CP M. Srinivasulu and 75 senior officials from 45 banks. Addressing the gathering, CP Sajjanar called upon banks to adopt the 'Safe Customer Challenge' to curb mule accounts that are being misused by cyber criminals. He instructed every bank branch to work towards achieving 'Zero Mule Accounts'. “No cyber fraud victim should be linked to any bank branch. 

The Commissioner advised bank managements to treat customer safety — not just the number of accounts opened — as the key performance indicator (KPI) for employees. He revealed that under Operation Octopus 2.0, police have identified fraud amounting to Rs 150 crore in 850 cases and arrested 32 bank officials for assisting in the opening of mule accounts.

Sajjanar explained that international cybercrime syndicates operating from countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, and Dubai are colluding with local bank officials to commit these frauds. He further suggested using modern tools like ‘Mule Hunter’ to identify mule accounts and creating widespread awareness among customers about the 1930 helpline number. CP Sajjanar declared that Operation Octopus would continue until the entire network of cyber criminals is dismantled, and urged banks to work in close coordination with the police.