South Africans targeted to launder money for international crime syndicates

South Africans are increasingly being targeted by international crime syndicates to be 'money mules'.  People, enticed by the prospect of earning more money with minimal effort, are finding themselves in situations where their bank accounts are being used to launder the proceeds of crime.

"There are increased reports of attempts to recruit South Africans to act as money mules," says Susan Potgieter, General Manager of the Commercial Crime Office at SABRIC. "This is a criminal offence and punishable with severe penalties including imprisonment."

A money mule or e-mule is someone who is conned into using his bank account to launder money. A fraudster steals personal information which they use to transfer money out of the victims account into that of the money mule. Usually, the fraudster is based internationally and therefore requires a South African bank account to transfer the money.

"Although the prospect of making some easy money may appear attractive, any commission' payments will be recovered as they are the proceeds of fraud and you may become embroiled in a police investigation. Remember that you will be the easiest part of the chain to track down and supplying any information to the fraudsters may also put you at risk of identity fraud," continues Potgieter.

"Remember that even if you have nothing to do with the actual extraction of funds from another person's account, by allowing your account to be used to receive and transfer such funds, you will be acting illegally and can be held liable to repay funds that were channeled through your bank account."

Money mules are recruited through a variety of methods, including spam emails, adverts on genuine recruitment web sites, approaches to people with their CV's available online, instant messaging and adverts in newspapers.

"Be cautious about any unsolicited offers or opportunities offering you the chance to make some easy money especially if you find that it entails giving out your banking details or making your bank account available to receive funds," concludes Potgieter.

How to identify a money mule advert:

Money mule adverts or offers can take a variety of different forms and they may even copy a genuine company's web site and register a similar web address to add authenticity to the scam. These adverts will normally state that they are an overseas company seeking "SA representatives" or "agents" to act on their behalf for a period of time. The advert may be written in poor English with grammatical and spelling mistakes and they may urge you not to inform the bank or the police about the reason for making payments. The adverts may state that you will be paid your commission upfront and the commission rate is generally very attractive.  Often there is a huge emphasis on client service and this is used to encourage speedy response to instructions to channel funds to the criminals identified point for payment.

* Fraudsters contact prospective victims with "job vacancy" adverts via spam emails, letters, newspaper job adverts, Internet chat rooms or job search web sites. Jobs are usually advertised as a "financial manager" and suggest that no special knowledge is required.
* Positions on offer sometimes include "SA representative", "shipping manager", "financial manager" or "sales manager". They offer you the chance to earn some easy money for a few hours' work each week, usually just requiring that you have access to the Internet.
* After being recruited by the fraudsters, money mules receive funds into their accounts and they are then they are instructed to withdraw the money and send it overseas using a money-remitting (transfer/ moneygram transfer?) service, minus a certain commission payment.

Tips to avoid being caught in this scam
* Be wary of any unsolicited offers or opportunities for work, especially if the company is based overseas
* Verify the details of any company that you consider dealing with and never give your bank account details to someone you don't know or trust
* Contact your bank immediately if you think that you may have become involved in a money mule scam
* If you see an opportunity to make some easy money and the offer seems too good to be true, then it probably is!
* If you have received any money mule emails, then please delete them and do not respond to them or click on any of the links they contain.
* If you have already responded to any the emails and/or provided any banking or personal information, please contact your bank immediately.