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I4C warns against illegal payment gateways | Latest news India

I4C warns against illegal payment gateways | Latest news India

Oct 29 2024 08:02 IST

The I4C advised not to sell or rent out their bank accounts, company registration certificates and Udhyam Aadhaar registration certificate to anyone.

New Delhi The Indian Cyber ​​Crime Coordination Center (I4C) of the Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday issued a warning against illegal payment gateways such as RTX Pay, Peace Pay, Pocco Pay and RPPay that offer “money laundering as a service” to transnational organized cyber criminals. These payment gateways use mule bank accounts to receive money from cyber scam victims, then forward it to criminal syndicates, often through a multi-layered network of bank accounts.

The I4C advised not to sell or rent out their bank accounts, company registration certificates and Udhyam Aadhaar registration certificate to anyone. (Shutterstock)
The I4C advised not to sell or rent out their bank accounts, company registration certificates and Udhyam Aadhaar registration certificate to anyone. (Shutterstock)

The I4C advised not to sell or rent out their bank accounts, company registration certificates and Udhyam Aadhaar registration certificate to anyone. “Illegal funds deposited into such bank accounts can lead to legal consequences, including arrest. Banks can use checks to identify misuse of bank accounts used to set up illegal payment gateways,” the official statement from I4C said.

To set up such networks, perpetrators first look for checking and savings accounts on social media, usually on Telegram and Facebook.

These mule accounts are then controlled by foreigners from abroad and used to create an illegal payment gateway. This gateway link is used by criminal syndicates to accept deposits on fake investment sites, fake stock trading platforms, offshore betting and gambling websites, etc.

Once victims deposit money into these accounts, the money is immediately transferred (“layered”) to another account. “Bulk Payout facilities of banks are abused for this purpose,” according to the I4C.

HT spotted two such Telegram channels for RTX Pay, one each for India and Vietnam. Details for the Indian channel were given in Mandarin and English. An image shared repeatedly on the Indian channel showed a plane with RTXPay written on it transferring money via UPI, Paytm and Bitcoin. Real-time payments and collections were advertised ranging from 500 to 1 lakh on behalf of a third party (presumably from victims), and payments on behalf of a third party ranging from 500 to 2 lakh (presumably to the syndicate).

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