Money mules facilitate money laundering that negates economic development

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), it is estimated that money laundering causes financial losses amounting to about 2.5% of the global GDP, which when converted into dollar terms amounts to anywhere between $800 billion and $ 2 trillion. Cyber crime rings recruit people as a conduit to launder money. These recruits are called 'money mules' or 'smurfers'.

They transfer the money received illegally—whether in their bank accounts, or in person or through courier—to other accounts. In return for their 'service', they earn a small amount of money as 'fee'. Cyber criminals use multiple money mules to eventually receive the money in their own hands, while obfuscating the money trail.

A chain of illegal transfers to obfuscate the money trail

A money mule is often a regular person like you and me, who gives in to the temptation of making easy money. Cyber criminals use social media, job websites, and chat rooms to lure and convince people who are likely in need of money—people who are out of a job, students, and the likes. These unsuspecting people are recruited on the pretext of a job offer where they are convinced of earning attractive commissions by receiving money in their accounts and transferring it forward. However, the recruits do not realize that they are being recruited for criminal activities.

The cyber criminals transfer the illegal money into the mules' accounts and direct them to transfer the received amount to other mule accounts. This triggers off a chain of transfers till the amount reaches back to the cyber criminal. Once the stolen money reaches the cyber criminals, it is used to fund many criminal activities including fraud, drug peddling, human trafficking, and even terrorist activities. According to Europol, nearly 90% of the money mule transfers fuel cybercrime.

Once in, it can be difficult to exit

Once into the crime ring, it becomes difficult for these mules to exit, as criminals can threaten and even attack them. When mule activity is reported, it is the money mules that face penal action. Their bank accounts are frozen, they face difficulty in getting phone contracts or opening new lines of credit—such as applying for student loans or credit cards. In the worst cases, money mules can also be sent to jail.

Protect yourself

To protect yourself from becoming a money mule, there are certain don'ts that you must practice. These include:

• Do not befriend strangers on social media.
• Do not fall for easy money-making schemes.
• Do not share your bank account details with anyone—either on social media platforms, emails, or phone.
• Do not agree to receiving unauthorized money from anyone.
• Do not ignore verifying the details of the company making an overseas job offer.

The article has been written by Neetu Katyal, Content and Marketing Consultant

She can be reached on LinkedIn.