Image: Lucas Favre
The FBI has warned of an increasing number of scammers preying on unemployed Americans by trying to recruit them into their money mule schemes and use them to launder funds obtained via fraud, online scams, and other types of criminal activities.
Money mules are individuals who transfer or move illegally acquired funds on behalf of criminals using their own or fraudulently opened bank accounts, with or without being aware that they are supporting a criminal operation's money laundering efforts.
There are multiple types of money mules: witting money mules are those who ignore all the red flags, complicit ones are those that are actively involved in the fraudulent scheme, and unwitting (or unknowing) ones are individuals who are unaware of their role and act based on trust.
Job seekers are more exposed than ever to falling for scammers' tricks and getting ensnared as unwitting money mules due to the decreasing number of available jobs and the unemployment surge caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Acting as a money mule—allowing others to use your bank account, or conducting financial transactions on behalf of others, jeopardizes your financial security and compromises your personally identifiable information," the FBI Baltimore Field Office warned.
"Protect yourself by refusing to send or receive money on behalf of individuals and businesses for which you are not personally and professionally responsible."
Work from home "opportunities"
Money mules are behind most of the $3.5 billion financial loss caused by fraud between 2015 to 2019 according to reports received by the FBI’s Internet ..
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