What is a Money Mule
Money mule is a type of fraud that asks the victim to receive a certain amount of money into an account to be transferred to another person's account. Money mule is considered the second largest type of fraud, significantly impacting financial institutions in 2019.
Money mule perpetrators usually persuade their victims with certain rewards to move money from their account to someone else's account or to withdraw money from a bank account and send it to a specified address.
Characteristics of a Money Mule
According to the FBI, money mules often target students, job seekers, or people on dating apps and anyone who can be approached for a crime. Here are some characteristics of a money mule:
- Emails or messages on social media that promise money without having to make any effort.
- Perpetrators who target job seekers usually use emails with general domains such as Gmail and Yahoo.
- Victims will be asked to open an account in their name or the name of the victim's company to receive or transfer funds, then process the funds via inter-country transfer or a money services company.
- The victim will be left to take their share of the transferred money.
Tips to Avoid a Money Mule
Quoted from the FBI website, there are several tips for avoiding money mules that you can understand.
- Do an online search to check the legitimacy of the company offering the job.
- Do not accept any job offer that asks you to use your personal account.
- Be careful if you just met someone through an online dating app who wants to use your personal account to receive and transfer money.
- Never share your financial information with people you don't know and trust, especially people you've just met online.
That's a discussion about money mules that you can understand to avoid this method. You can also read other safe transaction tips on the Bank MAS website to avoid other modes of fraud.
Sources:
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