If you have just arrived in the country, are unemployed, a student, or experiencing financial difficulties, you may be targeted by criminal organizations. This is especially true if you are a male aged between 18 and 35. Criminals promise easy money to help them launder funds from illegal activities.
In 2018, cases of young people being recruited as money mules are on the rise. Criminals are increasingly targeting students with financial difficulties to gain access to their bank accounts and assist them in transferring money from one country to another.
With the collaboration of over 300 banks worldwide, police forces from more than 20 countries arrested 168 individuals in an international raid conducted between September and November 2018. The operation, known as the European Money Mule Action (EMMA), is part of a coordinated anti-money laundering campaign by Europol, Eurojust, and the European Banking Federation (EBF), of which the Spanish Banking Association is a member.
This blow to organized crime, which identified 26,376 fraudulent transactions and prevented total losses amounting to 36.1 million euros, once again highlights the importance of a rapid and coordinated response between law enforcement and the banking sector. Here is a guide on the modus operandi of these criminal organizations and tips to avoid being involved in their crimes. You can follow our recommendations on social media using the hashtags #DontbeaMule and #NoSeasMula.
