An undercover investigation of India's financial ecosystem has revealed that a troubling black market is quietly emerging - a market where bank accounts are traded just as casually as consumer goods. Undercover investigations have revealed that there is a thriving network of brokers who sell unlicensed accounts for as little as ₹7,000, exposing unsuspecting citizens to grave risks.
The accounts are often created without the knowledge of the individual by using their personal credentials. These accounts are then resold to cybercriminals and used to perpetrate online scams, launder money, and circumvent financial regulations, thereby undermining the integrity of the country’s banking system. When these tools are in the hands of fraudsters, they become powerful instruments to perpetrate online scams, launder illicit money, and circumvent financial regulations.
It is well known that the purchase, sale, or rental of bank accounts constitutes a serious criminal offence and that authorities have repeatedly warned about this fact. If an account is found to be operated by someone other than its legitimate holder, or if a transaction is associated with illegal activity, a financial institution has stated that immediate action will be taken, including suspending or terminating the account without advance notice, as well as escalating the matter to the appropriate authorities.
According to investigators, these accounts are extremely valuable resources for criminal networks, who can rely on them in order to commit bank transfer scams, launder illicit funds, and bypass regulatory oversight. It is crucial to note that, even if individuals allow their accounts to be misused unintentionally, they will likely face legal consequences, since the law does not excuse negligence when it comes to financial crimes.
In addition, the investigation revealed that there are structured rate cards for the underground market, with prices determined by the transaction limits of individual accounts. As a matter of fact, accounts with a limit of one lakh transactions are often sold for around $18,000, whereas those with a limit of one lakh transactions can sell for as much as $60,000 at the higher end.
At the top end, accounts capable of performing transactions up to a crore can fetch a staggering amount of $ 6 lakhs, while accounts with a limit of five crores will fetch up to $30 lakh.
There is a particularly keen interest among fraudsters orchestrating investment scams, call centre frauds, and cryptocurrency-related money laundering schemes to establish these high-limit accounts because they facilitate the transfer of large amounts of money without the immediate scrutiny of an immediate bank.
The experts at the World Economic Forum have identified the vulnerability of account opening through Business Correspondent (BC) points as one of the major enablers of this illegal trade, and in particular, the lack of appropriate physical verification often allows fraudulent accounts to slip through the cracks.
According to Dr. R.S. Lohia, former executive director of a nationalised bank, criminals are exploiting the lack of rigorous Know Your Customer (KYC) enforcement as a critical weakness.
In order to dismantle this illicit economy, it is urgent that the regulatory oversight and banking surveillance be tightened. According to the investigation, this underground market operates based on a structured rate card, which determines the price of goods and services based on the transaction limit of every individual.
Depending on the amount of transactions allowed, the price will vary between $18,000 and 60,000 for an account with a $1.5 lakh limit on transaction amounts, while an account with a $25 lakh limit will bring you $60,000.
On the higher end, accounts allowing transactions of up to $1.5 crore can be sold for around $6 lakh, and one allowing transactions of up to $5.5 crore can be sold for upwards of $30,000.
There is a particularly keen interest among fraudsters orchestrating investment scams, call centre frauds, and cryptocurrency-related money laundering schemes to establish these high-limit accounts because they facilitate the transfer of large amounts of money without the immediate scrutiny of an immediate bank.
The experts at the World Economic Forum have identified the vulnerability of account opening through Business Correspondent (BC) points as one of the major enablers of this illegal trade, and in particular, the lack of appropriate physical verification often allows fraudulent accounts to slip through the cracks.
As the former Executive Director of a nationalised bank, Dr. Lohia expressed the concern that there is a critical weakness that criminals exploit due to the lack of stricter Know Your Customer (KYC) enforcement. It is therefore imperative that regulatory oversight is tightened and banking surveillance is strengthened in order to dismantle this illegal economy. According to the findings of this investigation, more problems lie beyond just an underground trade in bank accounts — these problems expose deep vulnerabilities in the country's financial security system.
According to experts, if there is no immediate action taken to correct the unchecked proliferation of these accounts, public trust could be undermined in banking institutions, and cybercriminals might be encouraged to scale up their operations even further if it continues unchecked. In their opinion, the challenge is not simply to dismantle broker networks, but also to strengthen compliance mechanisms, improve accountability in account opening processes, and make sure that regulatory vigilance is as sophisticated as the emerging financial crimes that are taking place.
With the rapid increase in digital transactions, the importance of safeguarding banks' channels has only increased. If we don't take decisive action, the black market for bank accounts will be a permanent parallel system, which will threaten the economy and the lives of ordinary citizens who will unwittingly end up entangled in criminal networks, threatening both economic stability and security.