Warning Issued Over 'Money Mule' Job Offers

Hundreds of thousands of people are in danger of being duped into laundering money for fraudsters, experts have warned.

Recruited as unwitting "money mules", people could be allowing their own bank accounts to be used to disguise the proceeds of crime.

The Financial Fraud Action that tackles fraud on behalf of banks, carried out the study, which found students and jobseekers could be especially vulnerable.

The study found that some 19% of students who had been approached had agreed to become money mules.

DCI Dave Carter, an investigator from Financial Fraud Action, warned, "It's a very serious problem."

"Almost every single criminal transaction that goes on depends on money mules, to turn the money from crime into something the criminals can spend themselves."

It is understood that fraudsters contact likely targets by sending out mass emails offering employment, or after sifting through CVs posted by job seekers on employment websites.

Jobs described as "money transfer agents", "payment processing agents" or "administration assistants" for salaries of hundreds of pounds a week are then offered.

And while they are made to look like a proper job offer, the real purpose is to channel cash from criminal activity through a person's own bank account, making them the fraudster's money mule.

(H)