A ‘money mule’ is a person who lets someone else use their bank account to transfer money. The bank account holder may keep a portion of this money for themselves.
If you are involved in this type of activity, it can lead to you facing criminal charges because of your involvement, whether you knew you were part of the process or not.
You can be scammed into taking part, which commonly works by the fraudster first obtaining money illegally. To hide the source of the money from authorities, the fraudster will want to move the money through your account.
The fraudster will gain your trust and ask if they can transfer you money, before asking you to send the money back to them. If you do this, you would be taking part in the criminal act of money laundering.
To ensure you don't become a money mule make sure you:
Only ever receive money from someone you trust completely
Never agree to receive money which you’ll then send back to another account
Never send money on behalf of someone, even if they say you can keep a percentage
If you let someone use your bank account to transfer money, you may be laundering criminal funds. This money could be used to fund serious organised crime. If you get caught doing this, you could get a criminal record.
You can learn more here.
