Global blow to the 'money mules': 2,469 arrested for helping money laundering in exchange for a commission

A mule is a mule, even if it is money.

In the end, it is a

that carries what others put on its back, be it black money, drugs... Contrary to the strong animal mule, the human mule is the weak link in the money laundering chain, a cheap front for who really move the dough.

(money mules) in a global operation

and have identified 8,755 of these people who had put their bank accounts at the disposal of international criminal gangs so that they could move without giving Face your criminal profits from

specific, CEO fraud, Nigerian letters or others.

The police have launched a global campaign, under the slogan "don't be a mule", to prevent criminals from "tricking the innocent", those who seek out those who are in a bad economic situation with false job offers but without requirements.

The "so-called global action against money laundering through money mules" has concluded this Tuesday.

A total of 25 countries have participated in the action, in which the European Banking Federation has collaborated.

In total, 8,755 "money mules" have been identified, 222 recruiters, 4,089 fraudulent transactions, with which losses of 17.5 million euros have also been avoided, according to the police.

Of all of them, 2,459 mules have been detained.

The mule is the bridge to receive and transfer money between bank accounts, some of which are in his name, which is why he is the first to be identified;

At the same time, "criminal organizations access the funds from illegal activity, without the initial risk of being identified," the police clarified.

That is why the number of identified mules (almost 9,000) is 40 times higher than the number of recruiters (only 222).

Recruitment is easy, especially among people who are in serious financial difficulty.

Direct contact or email are the two main ways of recruiting, although the bad guys more frequently resort to social networks "to recruit new accomplices through false job offer announcements" in which, with hardly any requirements, they They offer "succulent commissions, only for making available to criminals one or several bank accounts to which to transfer illicit funds."

The police, however, know that the mule knows something.

Not much, but just enough to be aware of the crime.

The researchers put it like this: "The fines participate, with varying degrees of knowledge, in the criminal dynamics carried out by the criminal organization, being responsible, in many of the cases, for a crime of money laundering."

Do you know what #money mules are?💸

#Criminals try to trick innocent people into laundering money on their behalf, in exchange for a commission 🧐

They camouflage it as a job but IT'S NOT❌ #NoSeasMula@Europol pic .twitter.com/iHQYSa7q1s

– National Police (@policia) December 5, 2022

In Spain, 52 people have fallen, the latest related to a "CEO fraud", a technological scam whose objective is to deceive government employees authorized to issue payments in both SMEs and large companies.

Criminals impersonate your identity through an email, interfering in negotiations between different companies.

Fifteen people were arrested in this operation, in which the money was paid into an account in the name of a person who provided their information to open bank accounts at the service of the fraudsters.

The investigations, which have involved police from 21 European countries, the United States, Colombia, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong, have led to the arrest of the 2,459 people already mentioned in the course of the 1,648 investigations carried out around the world, 18 of them in Spain.

The operation has made it possible to shed light "on the use of mules for a wide spectrum of scams such as those based on the exchange of SIM cards, identity theft and

among others," the Spanish police said in a press release. .

The normal thing is that the black money leaves from a country, that it comes from the bank account of a victim that is in a different country, goes through the passbook of a mule that is in a third state, to end up in another account, after jumps several, where fraudsters can dispose of the laundered money.

12/05/2022 Press Release: "The National Police Arrests 52 People In Spain Within The Framework Of A Global Action Against Money Laundering Through Money Mules". The National Police has arrested 52 people in Spain in the framework of a global action against money laundering through "money mules".

In the 18 investigations carried out by the Spanish police, fraud of close to 800,000 euros has been detected and 8,755 "money mules" have been identified, 222 recruiters, 4,089 fraudulent transactions, also avoiding losses worth 17.5 million euros. NATIONAL POLICE POLICYNATIONAL POLICE (Europa Press)