Looks like it’s a bad time to be a mule. Over at Krebs on Security there’s a post describing the FBI’s new initiative targeting “money mules”.
Money mules help criminals launder money stolen through international banking fraud by receiving checks, wire transfers or automated clearing house payments, pulling cash from their own bank accounts and sending it to the criminals through wire services like Western Union or Moneygram in return for a (usually small) commission.
Apparently the idea is to make the public more aware of the problem. Krebs quotes the acting chief of the FBI’s cyber criminal section, Patrick Carney:
“We want to make sure that public understands this is illegal activity and one of the best ways we can think of to give that message is to have some prosecutions.”
Carney also describes mules as “an integral component of an international crime wave that is costing U.S. banks and companies hundreds of millions of dollars.” It is true that this type of criminal enterprise would be severely handicapped without mules it’s also true that the mules are generally not criminal masterminds.
Krebs has a nice description:
I can safely say that most mules fit into one of two camps: Those that are simply not the sharpest crayons in the box and really did get bamboozled (at least up to a point); and those who are out of a job, laid off, or otherwise in need of money and simply aren’t asking themselves or anyone else too many questions about the whole process.
We have pointed out before that this type of fraud is particularly unsavory because it takes advantage of an especially vulnerable pool of victims (or accomplices if you prefer). By contrast victims of other forms of fraud are usually just greedy.
While we are happy to see the FBI cracking down on “cyber crime” it does seem like there should be more to this effort. We would also like to see the following:
- A larger educational campaign including radio/TV ads, billboards and posters to inform the public that this type of crime exists.
- Regulatory pressure on banks, credit card issuers and other financial institutions requiring them to take responsibility for computer security vulnerabilities.
- A larger international effort to find and remove the roots of this type of crime as opposed to just snipping off the flowers at the end of the vine.
Given that the above don’t seem to be happening, we here at the OnlyMyEmail Anti-Spam Blog will continue to publish information about the various scams our spam filtering system encounters from day to day.
Hopefully we’re making a difference.
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Tags: fraud
