Don't Be a Money Mule! | GDCOC — Ministry of the Interior

Campaign

Money Mules Help Criminals Commit Crimes

In over 90% of cases, funds unlawfully transferred to the bank accounts of “money mules” stem from prior cybercriminal activity. The illegally acquired funds result from previously committed cyberattacks such as phishing, online shopping / e-commerce fraud, payment card fraud (PCF), business email compromise (BEC) and others. The modern phenomenon of “money mules” is what cybercriminals need to remain anonymous when transferring stolen funds.

What does it mean to be a “money mule”?

A money mule is a natural or legal person who, on behalf of third parties — criminals — transfers illegally acquired funds between different financial accounts, in different countries.

Money mules are recruited in advance by cybercriminals so that the stolen money has somewhere to be transferred. To this end, mules are promised commissions and given cash with which to open bank accounts in different currencies.

Even if money mules are not directly involved in the crimes that generate the illegal funds (cybercrime, payment and online fraud, drugs, human trafficking, etc.), their actions are illegal: by transferring the funds, money mules commit “money laundering” (Art. 253 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Bulgaria) of illegally acquired proceeds.

If you are found to have acted as a money mule — even as a result of deception — you may be sentenced to imprisonment, a fine or community service. You will also damage your banking reputation, which will affect future loan applications and other dealings with banks.

Poster from the Don’t Be a Mule campaign — I thought it was part of the job

Created by Europol · #dontbeaMule

How are money mules recruited?

Money mules are recruited in two main ways:

through direct contact — a chance or deliberate acquaintance, followed by an offer to earn easy money;
through fake job advertisements posted online.

As new technologies and trends develop, organised crime groups devise new schemes for committing crimes:

through job advertisements that appear legitimate at first glance (e.g. “money transfers”);
through online postings;
through a direct approach — in person or by email;
through social media (e.g. posts in closed groups);
through messages sent via instant messaging apps (e.g. WhatsApp, Viber).

Who most often becomes a money mule?

People looking for extra work, the unemployed, students, people in financial difficulty, tourists. Predominantly men aged 18–45.

What to watch out for

You can recognise an attempt to recruit you as a money mule by the following signs:

If communication with the person making the offer takes place by email, the writing often features poor sentence structure with grammatical and spelling mistakes. The email address linked to the offer uses web-based services (Gmail, Yahoo!, Windows Live Hotmail, etc.) instead of a domain owned by the company making the offer;
Advertisements on behalf of a foreign company looking to hire “local / national representatives” or “agents” to work with for a set period of time, in order to avoid fees, etc.;
The job duties consist mainly of transferring funds or goods;
The specific job duties are not described;
The position requires no special education or prior experience;
All interactions and transactions will be conducted online. The offer promises high earnings for little commitment and effort;
The basic condition for starting the job is that your bank account be used to transfer the money.

How to protect yourself

If a story sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true!
Be very careful with unsolicited emails or chance contacts on social media from people promising easy money.
Verify that any company offering you a job actually exists.
Be especially cautious about job offers from people or companies abroad, as it will be harder for you to establish whether they are real.
Never give your bank account details or other personal data to strangers.

What should I do?

If you have received emails of this kind, do not respond to them and do not click the links in the messages.
If, after reading this brochure, you suspect you have become a money mule — stop transferring the money immediately, notify your bank, and then contact the police.

Be wary of advertisements with spelling and grammatical mistakes. Read more at www.cybercrime.bg