WOULD you help a stranger with a money problem – in exchange for a “gift” of £100?
The answer should be no. But more and more people are being duped — or forced — into saying yes, before laundering the proceeds of crime through their bank account.
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“Money muling” rose by almost a quarter to more than 50,000 cases last year, according to figures from fraud prevention group Cifas.
The warning signs can be easy to spot, such as a job advert on Facebook or a Snapchat post offering the chance to earn a significant amount of money for very little effort.
“Herders” may say all you need to do is receive a payment in cash, transfer it on to a certain account and take a cut yourself — a practice called “cash-flipping”.
Or they might be more devious and make you think that by transferring the cash you are helping a vulnerable person struggling to access their own bank account.
But the money you receive has likely been scammed from a family or business that will be devastated by its loss and often powerless to get it back.
Paul Davis, of High Street bank TSB, said: “The victim could be someone who thought they were investing with a genuine firm, paying an urgent tax bill or who believed they’d been contacted by their bank, moving the money to keep it safe.
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“The place you are being asked to send the money to is a different account controlled by a criminal.
The monies often become wrapped up in wider criminal activity including drug-dealing, people-smuggling and terrorism, funding some of the worst criminal enterprises.”
If you are found to have knowingly laundered money, you could get up to 14 years in jail.
Even if you have been duped, it is hard to get another account, as your bank might put a Cifas marker by your name to identify you as someone who has been involved in fraud.
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Take our quiz, which was developed with the help of fraud experts.
And check the answers to see if you are at risk of being a money mule.
The questions
Answer Yes or No to these…
1) There’s a job ad in the paper looking for someone to do basic admin. It says it will need to see a copy of your passport and bank details. Do you go for it?
2) You see a job advert online for someone wanting to operate a currency exchange service. One of your duties will be opening new bank accounts in the name of the company you are working for. Do you go for it?
3) Your best friend messages you on Facebook to say she is having trouble with her online banking and asks if you will pay a bill for her today. She’ll drop the cash around later. Do you help?
4) Your sister is having building work done and her builder wants to be paid in cash. She asks you to withdraw £1,000 for her on your way home, if she transfers it to you. Do you help?
5) You are contacted by a firm you use, to say you are due a refund of £100. It confirms your name and asks which account you want it to be returned to. Do you go ahead?
6) A friend at the pub asks if they can transfer some cash to you, so you can pass it on to a charity as a donation because they want to give anonymously. Do you help?
7) You’ve been dating someone for six months. They ask to get a joint bank account with you to pay for a holiday together. Do you do it?
8) A homeless person approaches you and says they have a friend who wants to help them by sending cash. But they don’t have a bank account to receive it in. They ask if the cash can be sent to you, so you can withdraw it for them. Do you do it?
9) You and your pals are going on holiday and one person is taking payments from all of you to make a group booking. Is this OK?
10) A friend at the betting shop asks if they can send money to you and place bets using your betting account so their wife doesn’t find out. Do you do it?
The answers
1) Yes. Employers ask to see your passport to check if you have a right to work in the UK – and they need your bank details to pay you.
2) No. Any ads recruiting for “currency exchange” or “money transfer” agents are red flags, especially if the duties described are vague, or just involve transferring money from your own account to others.
3) No. You might know and trust your best friend, but it sounds like someone has hacked their Facebook and is sending messages in their name.
4) Yes. Assuming you know your sister well and you can check the money’s going to a real building firm. The key is to know where the money is going.
5) No. They’ll transfer the “refund” as promised but you’ll be sent too much, say £1,000. Then they’ll call back and ask that you send the £900 to one of their accounts. Call the retailer yourself, don’t answer cold calls.
6) No, don’t be duped into transferring cash for anyone.
7) Yes. If you want to and can fully trust your partner. Just be sure you have equal access to the account and can see all the transactions.
8) No. Mule recruiters are known to ask their victims to withdraw cash sometimes to make it harder for authorities to trace the dirty money. Do not listen to sob stories.
9) Yes. It’s your money and you know where it’s going.
10) No. It sounds like they are trying to “clean” dirty cash through a betting shop.
– If you’re contacted through social media then report the account for illegal activity. Report to Action Fraud too. Whatever you do, never share you bank details with someone you don’t trust.
‘Worried I’d get criminal record after conman used my account’
ALICIA RYAN, 24, from South East London, was working full-time as a nursing assistant and studying nursing when she was unwittingly used as a money mule five years ago.
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Rafael, the “herder” who recruited her, chatted her up on the street, leading to a year-long relationship.
One day at work Alicia received an “urgent” call from him.
He told her that as an international student, he was only allowed to work a limited number of hours – but he had exceeded the limit and needed to pay his extra wages into a bank account to stop him getting in trouble with HM Revenue & Customs.
Alicia says: “He didn’t say how much. I thought it would only be £100.
“When I checked, £8,000 had gone into my account, which shocked me.
“I sent back the maximum I could, then he came to get my bank card from me at work. But the bank froze my account. When I told Rafael he’d used it for fraudulent activity, he disappeared.
“He completely used me and I later found out he’d been doing the same to other girls at my college.
“I was working and studying flat-out at the time and didn’t know anything about muling. I lost about £1,000 of my own money, as the bank seized it along with the money he paid in – even though it was money given to me by my family.
“I was terrified of getting a criminal record when I was training to be a nurse.”
William Dooley of Ellis Jones Solicitors, which represents victims like Alicia, said: “We’re seeing more cases of people being duped into being money mules.
“The potential to fall victim is widespread, with criminals using sophisticated lies and deception.”
*Names have been changed
