Maharashtra Cyber has identified 23,328 bank accounts allegedly linked to a massive ₹172 crore cybercrime network involving money mule accounts, fraudulent cheque withdrawals, and ATM-based cash withdrawals — all part of a statewide crackdown targeting the infrastructure that enables financial fraud.
A Statewide Drive With Real Results
The operation, launched on July 1 under "Operation 1930: Cyber Safety," has already resulted in 803 proactive police-led FIRs based on intelligence and data analysis. Officials say the goal here isn't just to chase individual fraud complaints one by one — it's to systematically dismantle the entire financial and communication infrastructure that allows cybercrime to operate at scale across Maharashtra.
Thousands of Mule Accounts and Suspicious Transactions Uncovered
According to data released by Maharashtra Cyber, investigators identified 2,717 Layer-1 money mule accounts spread across 57 banks, tied to disputed transactions worth approximately ₹12.57 crore. This kind of large-scale mapping of suspicious accounts is exactly the sort of work that professional auditing services in India are built around — systematically tracing thousands of transactions across multiple institutions to expose exactly how fraudulent funds move through the system.
Beyond the mule accounts, the operation also uncovered 3,597 bank accounts allegedly connected to fraudulent cheque withdrawals, spanning 2,171 bank branches and involving disputed transactions worth about ₹89.30 crore. ATM-based withdrawals formed yet another major piece of this puzzle — investigators identified 17,014 bank accounts and 10,075 ATM IDs linked to disputed transactions worth roughly ₹70.14 crore.
On top of all this, investigators flagged 5,684 bogus or suspect SIM cards allegedly connected to 7,312 cybercrime complaints. Police are now working to verify who's actually using these SIM cards, as well as identifying sellers suspected of facilitating their misuse. Officials say the operation is deliberately casting a wide net — targeting fraudsters, mule accounts, cash-withdrawal channels, SIM infrastructure, and other facilitators that keep cybercrime running, with police units across the state carrying out verification and enforcement based on intelligence shared by Maharashtra Cyber.
A Faster FIR System for Cyber Fraud Victims
To speed things up for victims, Maharashtra introduced the E-Zero FIR system on July 10, streamlining how cyber fraud complaints get handled. Under this mechanism, any fraud exceeding ₹5 lakh reported through the national cybercrime portal is automatically converted into an E-Zero FIR and transferred straight to the local police unit. Victims then need to visit that unit and sign the electronic FIR within 72 hours.
The scale of activity here is genuinely significant — the 1930 Cyber Helpline handles between 8,000 and 10,000 calls daily, maintaining a 100% answer rate, according to officials. In just the first seven months of 2026, more than two lakh complaints were handled across the state, all built on centralised data analysis and profiling by Maharashtra Cyber, with intelligence passed down to local police units for ground-level verification.
₹514 Crore Safeguarded, ₹25.46 Crore Already Returned to Victims
Thanks to timely intervention and freezing of suspected fraudulent transactions, authorities have managed to safeguard ₹514.36 crore — pushing the total amount of citizens' funds saved through this initiative to more than ₹1,700 crore.
Maharashtra Cyber has also been actively using its Grievance Redressal Module to sort out cases involving wrongful debit freezes or lien markings on bank accounts, having already addressed more than 5,800 such grievances. And under the Money Restoration Module, victims of cyber financial fraud can get up to ₹50,000 per account restored without needing a court order — since July 1, this system alone has helped restore ₹25.46 crore to victims through coordinated police action across the state.
Officials say complaints submitted through citizens' home bank branches are forwarded to the relevant police unit for verification and necessary action within 15 days, as authorities continue their broader push to disrupt the financial and communication infrastructure that sustains cybercrime in Maharashtra.
FAQs
Q1. How many bank accounts have been flagged under Operation 1930?
Maharashtra Cyber has identified 23,328 bank accounts allegedly linked to a ₹172 crore cybercrime network, including mule accounts, fraudulent cheque withdrawals, and ATM-based withdrawals.
Q2. What is the E-Zero FIR system?
Introduced on July 10, it automatically converts cyber fraud complaints exceeding ₹5 lakh, reported through the national portal, into FIRs and transfers them to local police units, with victims required to sign within 72 hours.
Q3. How much money has been recovered or saved so far under this operation?
Authorities have safeguarded ₹514.36 crore through timely intervention, bringing total funds saved to over ₹1,700 crore, while ₹25.46 crore has already been restored to victims since July 1.