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The Anatomy of Money-Mule Scams

Posted by kdawson on from the if-it-sound-too-good-to-be-true dept.

Brian Krebs of the Washington Post's Security Fix blog has up an article on work-at-home money mule scams (backgrounder blog post here). These operations offer victims hundreds or thousands of dollars per week for moving money through their own accounts — a critical piece of the infrastructure for profiting from identity theft and phishing. The article links to the site of a UK fraud fighter named Bob Harrison, who lists hundreds of fradulent money-mule operations.

4 of 135 comments (clear)

  1. I have been trying by El+Lobo · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I have been trying for months to be selected by one of those scammers just for fun and to investigate the whole process. I answer every single strange letter from generous companies, rich princes, ex-gobernants of obscure countries, etc. I replay, playing a stupid character, and get so long as getting a few replies. Then, without a reason, they get absolutly silent.

    I don't know if they get caught or if they just smell that something is fishy, but I guess they are smart and they are searching for a given profile: not too smart, not too dumb, just right....

    --
    It's time to realise that Abble's products are the biggest abomination these days. Just say NO to the dumb iAbble way!!
  2. EBay is not a court of law by thehickcoder · · Score: 5, Interesting

    EBay investigated, concluding that Monroe's phantom employer had tied her PayPal account to a fraudulent auction. The auction site's verdict: She was responsible for repaying the full amount to the blameless auction winner. Monroe is now working two part-time jobs to pay the bills and to make the other victim whole.
    Since when does EBay get to decide who is responsible for fraud?
  3. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  4. Other End of the Money Transfer by Inexile2002 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I've lived in Madrid for four years and have heard this story from several different people including an ex girlfriend.

    A tourist looking guy with an American accent will approach people on the street with a sob story about how was robbed or otherwise lost his trekking backpack and included in the loss was his passport and wallet. His mother is sending him a Western Union Money transfer, but he can't collect it without ID. He then asks if he can call the USA with your name and passport number, have the money wired to you (his mom is always "at the Western Union right now!"). You accept and collect the money transfer at zero cost to you - fees are paid on the other end, and then turn the cash over to this guy. I've heard the sum of 275 euros up to over 800. He even offers 50 euros to reluctant people.

    My ex-girlfriend fell for it, and then by coincidence bumped into the same guy two years later, so he's being doing this for a while. I didn't know her the first time she fell for it, but the second time she bumped into the guy, we both assumed it was something to do with drugs but now I'm guessing it probably had something to do with Money Mules.

    Interesting that they actually use intermediates on the other end at least some of the time.

    Also, The Money Mules would be a great name for an 90's cover band.