That Job Offer May Not Be What It Seems – Avoid Becoming A Money Transfer Mule
The increase in unemployment due to the recession and the need to find the money to pay credit card debts will make many people interested in the idea of making a little extra money with a part time job.
Not all jobs are everything they seem to be and there are warnings today from the website, www.getsafeonline.org about innocent people looking for work being used as ‘mules’ in internet fraud.
Being conned into becoming a ‘mule’ is a sophisticated type of online fraud that could leave you with a frozen bank account and facing criminal charges but it all starts with an innocent looking email message offering a job.
Responding to these advertisements offering what seems like well paid work for important sounding jobs such as ‘money transfer agent’,’shipping manager’ or as a ‘mystery shopper’ to carry out simple tasks. Once the innocent job seeker has been recruited by a fraudster, the mule carries out transfers of the money illegally gained in one country to another country quite unaware that they are carrying out illegal transfers.
Once they have been ‘recruited’, money mules are persuaded to share their bank details which would not seem unreasonable if their wages are to be paid into their bank. The ‘mule’ is then unwittingly used to launder the profits of the fraudsters’ criminal activities.
This is a particularly worrying trend as at any given time, it is estimated that there may be 100 known mule recruitment sites targeting the UK and each of these may have lured up to 50 innocent people into being active mules. By allowing their bank accounts to be used to receive and transfer illegal funds the mules are breaking the law – even if they don’t realise it.
Mules may then become part of a police investigation and are most likely to be the easiest part of the criminal chain to track down with a fair likelihood of being caught. Once they have been caught money mules will probably have their bank accounts suspended and they may even find themselves liable for all the proceeds of the fraud.
The ease of use of the internet and the relative ease of setting up what looks like a legitimate company online makes these scams a dangerously easy operation to set up and and easy one to fall prey too if you are short of money and looking for work. Be very conscious of the possible risks and make sure you check the credentials of any potential employer offering and online job.
If you have reservations about any job offer or any other online services or offerings take a look at the website at www.getsafeonline.org and read more about avoiding scams and identity theft and online credit card fraud.
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