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Don’t be an ass. Avoid mule recruitment sites

Fraudsters are on the look out for bank accounts to launder stolen funds. Now the Serious Organised Crime Agency is warning against the rising threat of so-called mule recruitment sites.

After years of warnings about phishing attacks and criminals searching through dustbins for non-shredded bank statements, most of us are firmly on our guard against identity theft. But in the world of online banking fraud, obtaining a user’s banking credentials is only one side of the story.

The reality is that specialist criminals who write effective banking malware may be able to compromise UK bank accounts with relative ease. But transferring funds out of the accounts they access presents a whole new challenge. Sharon Lemon is the deputy director of the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and head of the agency’s e-crime unit. Writing for the Times in December 2009, Lemon explains how the scammers require ‘drop service providers’ to receive fraudulent transfers and launder their stolen funds.

A ‘drop’ is a UK bank account which is under criminal control - although the actual bank account holder may be completely unaware of the criminal activity he or she is aiding and abetting.

So the next time you find yourself tempted by a too-good-to-be-true offer of easy money - either handwritten on a piece of cardboard and attached to a lamppost or neatly presented in the classified ads - think again. SOCA is warning that even money mules who genuinely believe they are involved in legitimate businesses activities may wind up with a criminal record and be asked to pay back their ‘earnings’.

On the SOCA website Sharon Lemon explains how the money mule system works:

"The image of online criminals as amateur hackers, breaking into computer systems for kicks, has been out of date for some time. Online crime is now dominated by professional criminals.

“They may be able to compromise UK bank accounts, but they cannot transfer funds out of them. They need legitimate bank accounts, under their control, to receive and forward money from online banking fraud. Money mules are duped into using their personal accounts to do this, under the guise of a legitimate business. For example they may believe they have a genuine job as a ‘financial manager’, ‘money transfer agent’, ‘shipping manager’ or even ‘mystery shopper’ purporting to evaluate customer service at high street banks.

“Criminals need lots of these ‘drop service’ providers to stay in business because transfers of stolen money are quickly detected and the suspect accounts are suspended. When that happens, the individual finds themselves liable to repay all the funds they’ve received - which will be long gone - their bank account frozen, and even facing criminal investigation.”

To discuss online fraud or any other aspect of Internet security, call your Prosyn account manager today on 08000 688 471.