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Money mules are recruited online to receive and transfer stolen money for a percentage. Scammers offer fake job postings, often claiming to prevent tax burdens, and instruct the mule to transfer funds to an overseas or corporate account. Phishing schemes can also be used to steal passwords and login information. Money mules risk loss of commission, compensation, criminal record, and prison. To protect themselves, people should carefully check job offers and be wary of suspicious offers from overseas or poorly written emails.
A money mule is a person who agrees to receive money into their bank account and then transfer it to another account for a percentage. Fraudsters and money launderers use money mules to complete transfers of stolen money. They are usually recruited online or through remote job postings. The term “mule” comes from drug trafficking and refers to couriers who transport goods between drug dealers.
Preying on desperate job seekers, scammers offer a job as a payment processor or currency trader. They often claim that the transactions are necessary to prevent excessive tax burdens or other financial setbacks. The money mule agrees to receive money into his account or to open a new one for this purpose at a bank indicated by the scammer. He then transfers it to an overseas or corporate account via an untraceable wire transfer and is told to keep a percentage of the funds as compensation. The criminal vanishes with the stolen money and the mule is left at the mercy of law enforcement.
Social networking sites, email, newspaper ads, and online job boards are frequent targets of scammers looking for someone to act as a mule. Scammers troll these sites, posting job postings that promise good money for financial positions with little or no experience required. Those who respond to the ads are then set up as employees of a company whose information was stolen or a fabricated company and are instructed to wire the funds.
In phishing schemes, criminals can spoof legitimate business to entice the recipient into opening an email and include a notice to download a fix so that an account isn’t terminated. If successful, the malware installs itself on the computer and steals passwords and login information. Password information may be requested directly to verify your account. If the recipient is compliant, funds stolen from accounts can then go through money transfers, making them very difficult to trace.
A money mule may not realize he is involved in a criminal enterprise, or he may know it and not care. People who participate in this scheme take great risks. Risks include loss of commission, compensation to those whose money was stolen, criminal record and even prison. Additionally, opening your financial identity to fraudsters increases your vulnerability to identity theft.
People can protect themselves from money mule scams by carefully checking all job offers they receive before responding in any way. Legitimate businesses should have a trackable history other than just a website. Offers from overseas can be suspicious, as money launderers often open offshore accounts and are more difficult to verify. Poorly written emails, full of grammatical and spelling errors, indicate unprofessional and possibly criminal businesses. If something sounds too good to be true, chances are it is.
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