Criminal gangs are trying to clean illicit cash – are you a money mule?

Europol gears up to target criminal gangs and their naive accomplices

Many people are (unknowingly) transferring illegal funds which have often be attained through criminal activity (Getty )

Criminal gangs are renewing efforts to clean illicit cash through our everyday bank accounts. But 30 countries and 600 banks are about to launch a crackdown.

Co-ordinated by Europol, their Europe-wide plan is to prosecute the criminals making the cash and make clear to those laundering it exactly what they’re involved in. Most have no idea.

A money mule is someone who uses their own bank account to deposit cash from a third party before transferring it elsewhere and taking a commission.

They are targeted through a range of approaches from seemingly legitimate job offers, social media messaging and ads and even physical approaches on the street.

It seems like an easy way to make some money, but 90 per cent of the transactions identified by Europol are linked to cybercrime.

The cash is generated through criminal activities like phishing, malware attacks, online auction fraud, e-commerce fraud, holiday and romance fraud and email compromise, to name but a few.

Traditionally going after students with shallow pockets and big bills to pay who may jump at the chance of a bit of free cash with few questions asked, the new academic year is a focal point for these criminal gangs, even if university life is online right now.

This week, Ireland’s FraudSMART initiative reported 36 per cent of the 18 to 24-year-olds in the country had acted as money mules this year alone, laundering €12m (£10.8m) since the start of 2020 in return for a small sliver of the cash.

Mirroring similar figures in the UK, barely half had heard the term “money mule”, and few understood the risks they were taking.

Carried out on a global scale, the amount of money involved is vast, with tainted funds flowing into and out of bank accounts frequently via overseas transactions.

But while awareness campaigns to date have focused on the youngest of adults, data from UK fraud prevention service Cifas, has warned of a growing trend in older adults being targeted in the UK.

Money muling activity was up by a quarter among 41 to 60-year-olds last year, as fraudsters turn away from increasingly aware millennials and Gen Zers.

Though those under 40 are still responsible for more than 80 per cent of the incidents in the UK, the number has plateaued and is dropping among the under 21s, Cifas found.

It needs to fall fast because the consequences of being a money mule can be devastating.

If evidence of money muling is uncovered in an account, either by the bank or the police, the account holder could face charges resulting in not only financial penalties but also imprisonment and a criminal record.

Then there’s the impact on the individual’s credit rating. This could be so badly damaged as a result of the offence that they are refused for loans, including those to fund further education or a mortgage on a home.

In fact, there’s the risk of high street banks refusing to deal with them all together so they lose access to a bank account, which regularly causes problems when applying for a job, or carrying out other everyday activities.

With so many people across the generations increasingly struggling to make ends meet, or unaware of the concept of money laundering, few can currently spot the warning signs. That makes them particularly vulnerable to exploitation by criminal gangs.

Those signs include job adverts with vague descriptions of a role or required qualifications that usually mentions the transfer of goods or money, and describes an international company looking for local or national agents. The company may be a legitimate one whose details have been copied, but the contact details could be a free domain email address such as Hotmail, Yahoo! or Gmail.

Other tactics include making in-person contact, or via social media or instant messaging apps. The person, who you probably don’t know, will ask you to move their money through your account in return for a cut.

They will present the transaction as risk free, often using phrases like “legit money”, “guaranteed cash” or “same day cash”.

The contact will be keen to give you a reason for needing to do it all this way and tell you how much other people have earned through the same deal.

The reason for the transaction will vary but you will always be required to provide your bank account details.  

“The banking industry is working closely with law enforcement to identify, arrest and charge those criminal gangs responsible for recruiting money mules and to raise awareness amongst susceptible groups,” says Katy Worobec, managing director of economic crime at UK Finance.

“Banks have sophisticated systems in place to detect suspicious transactions, and when they identify a money mule account it will be closed and reported to the authorities.

“Letting your bank account be used to transfer money given to you by someone else makes you a money mule, and when you’re caught your bank account will be closed and you will find it difficult to open an account elsewhere,” she adds.

“Through our Don’t Be Fooled campaign, we’re urging people not to give their bank account details to anyone unless they know and trust them, and to remember that if an offer of easy money sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”