Kathmandu, November 9
Integrated Anti-Scam Centre, established to prevent electronic fraud, has started operations, bringing commercial banks, payment system operators and service providers, and police together to tackle online scams.
The centre, based at the Nepal Police Cyber Bureau office, has 30 personnel working round the clock. It can freeze money transferred by scammers through different bank accounts, according to Sushil Paudel, a director at Nepal Rastra Bank.
Paudel said the centre had managed to freeze transactions across as many as nine layers of transfers within just 15 minutes.
“At present, they have managed to stop transfers across nine layers within 15 minutes. Representatives from 20 banks, as well as Khalti and eSewa, are stationed there,” Paudel said.
Victims can call the centre’s hotline, 1247, to report a scam. Since representatives of the banks are present at the centre, they can immediately coordinate with their institutions to freeze accounts into which the stolen money has been transferred.
Once a victim calls the hotline, the response process begins immediately.
For now, the centre’s primary responsibility is to freeze the money, Paudel said. Questions have been raised about whether Nepal Rastra Bank needs to issue a circular to facilitate the return of stolen funds. However, he said no such circular was necessary.
“Once evidence is available, the money can be returned. If the account holder claims the money is not from fraud, they must fight a legal case to prove their innocence,” Paudel said. “Once stolen money reaches someone’s account, it is the account holder’s responsibility to establish that they are innocent.”
He said the central bank was preparing operating procedures for the anti-scam centre. Paudel suggested that the procedures should provide for the return of funds based on evidence that they originated from a scam, while account holders disputing the claim would have to seek legal recourse to prove their innocence.
“We cannot deliver justice to one person by allowing the money of 99 others to remain frozen,” he added.
The centre currently has eight police personnel, including six officers handling calls and two supervisors. Banks have assigned three employees each to work in eight-hour shifts, Paudel said. Some banks have sent two representatives, while others have assigned three.
Representatives of development banks and finance companies are not physically stationed at the centre and are currently available only through the hotline. Paudel said Nepal Rastra Bank had issued verbal instructions after some development banks were found to be slow in responding to hotline calls.
He warned that scammers could exploit delays by shifting stolen money to finance companies if they found those institutions easier to use. The central bank has instructed development banks and finance companies to designate focal persons who can respond immediately around the clock.
The central bank has also directed these institutions to ensure that their designated contacts are available when needed. If they fail to respond, they may be required to maintain a physical presence at the centre, Paudel said.
Paudel said investigators had also found cases in which scammers withdrew cash from two or three locations. Apart from such withdrawals, however, the stolen money was largely continuing to circulate within the banking system.
The centre began operations on Friday and has been receiving an average of three complaints every hour, he said.
Freezing money linked to scams also disrupts scammers’ other financial transactions, making it harder for them to move funds. Paudel said tracing and blocking transfers across multiple layers could effectively leave scammers unable to access the money.
For example, funds transferred from Kumari Bank to Nabil Bank could then move to Everest Bank, Nepal Investment Mega Bank and Global IME Bank. The centre has managed to block transactions across as many as nine such layers.
Paudel said the process was relatively easier in Nepal because funds could not be transferred outside the country through the channels being monitored, apart from cash withdrawals through ATMs.
The centre was established following a rise in online fraud, with Nepal Rastra Bank taking the initiative to bring representatives of all relevant institutions together in one place. Although the Cyber Bureau had previously handled such cases, a dedicated structure was developed and operations began last Friday.
The centre will operate under the Cyber Bureau, but will handle all cases and operational activities related to cyber scams. Its responsibilities include freezing data and coordinating with relevant institutions to prevent scammers from withdrawing money from the financial system.
The Ministry of Home Affairs issued the Guideline on the Establishment and Operation of the Integrated Cyber Scam Response Centre, 2026, on October 9, paving the way for the centre’s operations.
