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YOUNG PEOPLE IN Ireland are being targeted by criminals, who convince them to allow their bank accounts to be used to illegally transfer money, gardaí have warned.
Over the past year, the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) has identified 700 suspected money mules with arrests being made “every day of the week”. The average age of those involved is 19.
Money mules are people who allow their bank accounts to be used by criminals.
Some people are recruited unwittingly, usually through a too-good-to-be-true earning opportunity via social media or word of mouth. Teenagers are particularly at risk because they are targeted in what appears to be a friendly approach by the criminal.
Advertisements for “get rich quick” or fake jobs on Facebook are also being used to dupe people.
Detective Superintendent Michael Cryan said the one recurring theme in all cases is that the money mules “never get a penny, these gangs don’t pay them”.
He warned that “every money mule will be caught” as it’s their details being used and the banks are obliged to report any suspected criminality.
“This is organised crime at its purest and every money mule that does any act to help launder money is helping organised crime. They’re assisting these gangs who are involved in all sorts of crime from people smuggling, to people trafficking to drugs, even in terrorism,” said Cryan.
“Every single time a person loses money from their bank account in a smishing scam, there has to be a corresponding money mule to launder the money.
“Every single time a company loses their money in an invoice redirect fraud or business email compromise fraud there has to be a money mule to take that money, to launder that money because otherwise criminals have to use their own bank accounts and that will lead to their verification and arrest.”
Cryan added that the pandemic has lead to a big increase in cyber-enabled crime as everyone has moved their activities online giving “far more opportunities for the fraudster”.
“The fraudster works from home. So this is ideal. They can target up to 10,000 people all around the world at the same time.”
Current money laundering legislation has made it more difficult for criminals engaged in such activities to open Irish bank accounts, meaning that they are turning to alternative means to gain access to the proceeds of their crimes.
Cryan said that previously people would be flown into the country to open bank accounts but due to the pandemic that’s not happening as much “so there are more and more of the money mules being used and exploited”.
In one ongoing investigation, gardaí identified 53 people who acted as money mules with €1.5 million being transferred through their accounts.
So far 32 people have been arrested in connection with that investigation, 17 of those are juveniles.
Of those arrested:
Cryan said the arrests come with “serious ramifications” for anyone who’s thinking of being a money mule to make ‘easy money’.
“Unfortunately, there is no easy money to be made out there,” said Cryan
Conviction of up to 14 years
There are a number of consequences including arrests, charges and convictions for people who allow any individuals or groups to use their bank account, ATM card or pin number.
A conviction of this type carries a potential prison sentence of 14 years and could affect could visa applications to work in some countries; could place the person on terrorist watch lists; could affect their ability to work in the financial sector; and could affect credit rating and vetting applications.
An Garda Síochána are advising parents to educate their children on the dangers of acting as money mules, as it will “destroy their future”.
Cryan said parents should look out for signs that they may have become involved, saying young people are often stressed when they realise what they are doing is illegal.
Other red flags included the child suddenly having extra money and the appearance of increased spending on new clothes or technology. Teachers are also asked to be alert to the people in their classes recruiting money mules.
He said there have been incidents where people think they are helping out a friend and suddenly they see thousands coming into their account and “then they realise this is very, very serious”. The GNECB has seen cases in which up to €300,000 has landed in the account of money mules.
The advice from gardaí is – if you have received money into your account that you suspect to be from a criminal network – to report it immediately.
“Don’t allow the person to use your account and use you to be the criminal while they stay in the background,” said Cryan.
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If you’re a normal person you can mess up your entire life with some small-time laundering, but if you’ve in the Golden Circle you can gut the whole nation walk away smiling.
Stop telling these kids they have to work hard to get on top, they know its not true.
Right now a lot of young people feel they have no future already. House prices, the mounting debt the country is getting into and the lack of proper social skills in the correct environments.
@Full Circle: yeah 12 year old girls are really worried about that and not buying clothes
@Craic_a_tower: Zoomers are very much occupied with the fact they hace no future, actually. Can’t ignore it you see
@Craic_a_tower: Zoomers are very occupied with the fact they have no future – can’t ignore it
@Dylan Byrne: anybody labelling a whole generation with a lazy name has no concept of the real world. People have not changed that much. The 80s were not exactly a great future outlook no jobs and impending nuclear war. We survived and weren’t that forward looking at 12-16 which seems to be the target group
@Craic_a_tower: Anybody who lazily assumes teenage girls have no concerns except clothes shopping during a Pandemic has no concept of the real world. Go talk to aome Zoomers out there in the real world, the world is not the same as when you were growing up. Obviously.
My parents grew up working class in the 80s, nobody had any money but everyone was a hell of a lot happier. My parents feel so sick I could never have the teen years/early adulthood they did, even though they had nothing. Times have changed.
@Dylan Byrne: your parents did but you didn’t. I did so maybe my real world experience of the time beats your memory of what your parents told you. The outlook in the 80s was very grim and unemployment was huge. In school they would tell us when we leave Ireland to remember to buy Irish products to help the country.
Easy money is appealing and not understanding the consequences is as tempting to the immature mind. There are always gloomy teenagers like yourself. I was a Goth so I get the enjoyment of wallowing.
@Craic_a_tower: You really don’t get it do you? Zoomers KNOW they have no future, which is a far stretch from just having a grim outlook.
The world has been plundered since your time. They aren’t growing up in the same society as you did, reducing it down to ‘teenagers bein moody’ misses the point
As each day passes the future looks darker and darker, and the past just looks so much brighter.
@Dylan Byrne: just eat a Xanax sandwich
@Charmaine ☘ Irish: why would you say that? Is that how you cope? What he’s saying isn’t a lie.
@Dylan Byrne: you can’t get it because you don’t know what the 80s was like but think you do. We really didn’t see a future then either. I can relate to how you feel because that is how people felt then. You telling me things were better in a time you didn’t experience that I lived in is ridiculous. You have no idea the quality of life is so much better now. AIDS and nuclear war were huge fears. The thought of being able to live in Ireland was a dream for many. You simply don’t have the experience while I don’t experience the world as you do now I am quite familiar with human nature. There is nothing unusual going on and you aren’t unique in your view for anybody of your age looking at the future
The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists had this to say on the subject,
“Big Banks shift money for people they can’t identify and in many cases fail to report suspect transactions until years after the fact”
Banks named in the ICIJ report included JPMorgan, HSBC Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank and New York Mellon.
And we’re talking trillons.
As far as I can find out none of the bank executives involved have been jailed.
But hey. let’s get those kids. Jail them, brand them for life and take away their ability to function normally in society. That will teach them about law and justice.
The obvious contradiction in that story weakens the argument. In one part the article states that people who are used as mules don’t gain financially from it while further down it advises parents to watch for their children spending extra money on clothes and technology etc. What extra money? Where did it come from if they didn’t get paid for being used and exploited ?
They know exactly what they’re doing. Make an example of a few is the only way.
That money was just resting on my account.
Jail them.
Jail them
@john s: we heard you the 1st time.
have your say