New figures released today by FraudSMART, a fraud awareness initiative led by the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI), show that over €5 million was moved by money mules in the first half of 2021.
The vast majority of incidents involved people aged between 18 and 24. BPFI CEO Brian Hayes said that “criminals are deliberately targeting teens and young adults when recruiting money mules.” These criminals typically recruit people through social media, offering young people ‘easy’ money in return for them using their bank account to lodge or transfer money. These transactions, however, constitute “effectively money laundering and therefore a criminal offence.”
Becoming involved in these sort of activities can lead to serious consequences for a young person, even ignoring the potential of criminal conviction of up to 14 years. Hayes says that teenagers who become involved can be threatened with violence, or physically attacked, if they attempt to stop allowing the criminals to use their accounts. Teenagers could also see their bank accounts closed and will face difficulty accessing loans in the future.
FraudSMART is appealing to young people to be aware of their “Money Mule Red Flags for Young People.”
Parents are advised to be aware of their “Red Flags for Parents/Guardians.”
A host of material including on Money Mules including information leaflets for young people and parents can be found at www.fraudsmart.ie.