Banks and law enforcement in a joint campaign against "financial mules" for the ninth time
Financial institutions and law enforcement authorities from 26 countries are joining for the ninth consecutive year in a joint campaign against money laundering schemes and the recruitment of "financial mules". These individuals play a key role in laundering funds obtained through a wide range of online scams, for example, the recently popular phone scams, phishing email scams impersonating real sites, e-commerce scams, SIM swapping, social engineering and others . The global campaign is organized by the European Center for Combating Cybercrime at Europol /EC3 - EUROPOL/, and the partner is the European Banking Federation, of which ABB is a member.
This year, 10,759 financial mules and 474 recruiters have been identified - double the number of last year, with law enforcement action leading to the arrests of 1,013 people, according to Europol. In the course of the campaign, 4,659 investigations were initiated. More than 2,800 banks and other financial institutions and IT companies help report more than 10,736 fraudulent transactions resulting in losses worth €100 million in which financial mules were used, preventing €32 million in damages .
During this year's campaign, the Bulgarian law enforcement authorities identified 165 "financial mules" and 20 people who recruit them, as well as 102 victims of criminal activity, which is three times more than last year. In connection with the fight against financial crimes, in the course of the current campaign, with the help of the country's banks, 358 illegal transactions were detected - more than three times more than last year, and damages worth more than 100 thousand euros were prevented.
A financial mule is a person who transfers illegally acquired funds between different bank accounts, often in different countries, receiving a commission for this activity. According to Europol statistics, in 95% of cases "financial mules" are used to absorb illegally transferred funds acquired from previous cybercriminal activity. Often the funds are intended to finance other criminal activities and money laundering.
Various schemes are used to recruit "financial mules", for example, dating sites, through which criminals try to convince their victims to open bank accounts to send or receive funds. Also, through posts on social networks with tempting job offers guaranteeing easy and quick riches, the aim is to attract the attention of students and young people. Criminals are increasingly inventive, often taking advantage of real-life events to make their propositions seem more credible. They aim to attract representatives of the most vulnerable groups who need cash - students, people who have lost their jobs and others. Often times, they also use information about the individuals they target, which they have obtained through social networks.
It is important to know that even if the persons used as "financial mules" were not aware that they were involved in an illegal money laundering activity, they were committing a crime by transferring funds and this could have severe consequences for them .
The banking sector in Bulgaria supports the efforts of law enforcement authorities and actively cooperates with them in the prevention and detection of financial crimes related to the laundering of funds acquired from illegal activities. Banks have strict rules and requirements by which they identify their customers, which is why they are highly trusted by consumers of financial services.
#Don'tBeMule
Have you received a request to help with a money transfer from:
Online contact or someone showing romantic interest in you?
Someone who offers you to make quick "easy" money?
Anyone in need of help because they claim they can't use their own bank account?
If the answer to any of the above questions is yes, then you've probably dealt with someone who recruits "financial mules". And if you did what they asked of you, you probably committed a crime.
If you suspect that you may have fallen victim to such a scheme and been used as a "financial mule", act immediately before it is too late. Stop the money transfers and notify your bank and the police immediately.
The information campaign #Don'tBeMule, dedicated to raising public awareness of this type of fraud, starts today at the European level. In the brochures published on the ABB website, more information can be obtained about ways to recruit "financial mules", how to protect ourselves and what we should do if we suspect that we or our acquaintances are involved in laundering schemes of money.
All files can be found here.