By the FBI

The ask comes through a job posting or from someone you meet online. It seems simple and harmless enough: provide your bank account information and allow money transfers to flow into your account.

Then move the money elsewhere and maybe earn a little cash for the trouble. Easy, painless, profitable. Right?

Wrong. You are likely aiding criminals by acting as a money mule, which can land you in prison and permanently damage your financial standing.

The FBI is joining with law enforcement partners worldwide to raise awareness of and curtail this illegal movement of funds, which is fueling the growth of crimes across the globe.

(Every year, tens of thousands of accounts are closed due to money laundering. Those involved might not realize their accounts are being used to fund criminality. This video helps to explain it. Courtesy of Met Police and YouTube. Posted on Jul 25, 2018.)

The FBI defines a money mule as a person who transfers illegally acquired money on behalf of or at the direction of another.

Money mules often receive a commission for the service or provide assistance because they believe they have a trusting or romantic relationship with the individual who is asking for help.

Much of the money moved through these third-parties is stolen through Internet-enabled frauds, thefts, and scams.

Drug trafficking and human trafficking are also common sources of the money.

While some money mules may be genuinely unaware of their involvement in a larger criminal scheme, many fully understand they are moving money attained from unlawful activities.

All mules, whether unaware or complicit, are committing a crime.

“Money mules are needed to help move stolen money from country to country, avert the scrutiny of financial institutions, and mask the identity of the individuals involved in these largely Internet-enabled crimes,” said Special Agent James Abbott of the Bureau’s Money Laundering, Forfeiture, and Bank Fraud Unit at FBI Headquarters.

“Being able to easily move the profits from these crimes contributes to their rapid growth and threatens the safety and security of everyone who has a presence online.”

The FBI recently conducted more than 300 interviews with individuals who had been flagged by financial institutions for activity that indicated they were acting as money mules.

The stories they relayed to FBI agents help draw a picture of how these individuals, who span every race, gender, and age demographic, are recruited and used.

• A female who worked in early childhood education met a man on an online dating site.
  • He was kind to her and told her he worked for a children’s charity.
  • A few weeks after they began communication, the man asked her to receive some money into her account for his charity.
  • Over the next several weeks, he attempted to wire a total of $250,000 into her account.
  • He then instructed her to wire the money into other bank accounts or obtain cashier’s checks and mail them to individuals at his direction.

(A brazon cyber-crime ring hack into bank accounts and use college students to move the money out of the country. Courtesy of CNBC Prime and YouTube.)

• On another dating website, a man met another man who claimed he was a captain in the U.S. Army, stationed overseas.
  • The “Army captain” told the man he was trying to arrange his travel home to the United States and needed the man’s assistance in receiving some money and sending it elsewhere.
  • The man had $10,000 wired into his account and was instructed to withdraw the money in small chunks and send it to a woman in Texas.
• A retired advertising executive who was looking to earn some extra money found a “work at home” opportunity online.
  • He was hired and then directed to create a business and open a new bank account for that business.
  • He was then told he’d receive a series of deposits and would be instructed where to send the money.
  • He believed the business was facilitating importing and exporting.