Mule & Shell Detection

Correlates digital intelligence with bank transaction data to identify mule pass-through accounts, beneficiary dispersion, multi-merchant funnels, and shell company networks.

Mule & Shell Detection correlates open-source intelligence with bank transaction data to identify mule pass-through accounts, beneficiary dispersion, multi-merchant funnels, and shell company networks. Thirteen bank-tunable rules produce composite alerts on a 0–100 score scale with integrity-hashed evidence packs ready for bank escalation.

Mule account networks are among the most damaging fraud typologies in modern payments. Fraudsters use networks of seemingly legitimate merchant accounts to launder illicit funds through transaction pass-through — bypassing traditional identity checks because each individual account appears superficially clean.

Set A rules cover identity mismatch, third-party routing, prohibited content on websites, tier-1 restricted verticals, and shared payment hints across merchants. Set B rules analyse bank feeds for rapid in-and-out sweeps, beneficiary dispersion, refund and chargeback anomalies, prohibited narration keywords, and multi-merchant funnels. Set C correlation rules escalate when digital signals and transaction behaviour converge — confirming transaction laundering and shell networks.

Alert bands range from Lead (15–34) through Critical (80–100) with defined actions: suspend, enhanced due diligence, velocity controls, or portfolio correlation logging.