Children as young as 15 are being used by organised criminal gangs to act as ‘money mules’ to launder the proceeds of online fraud through their ‘clean’ bank accounts, gardaí have revealed.
Secondary school and college students are being lured into the practice of having money moved through their accounts for a tempting commission but are destroying their futures when they are caught, gardai warned.
A money mule is someone who allows others to use their bank accounts. The accounts are used to receive or disburse fraudulent or illegally obtained funds, most likely from online fraud and other cyber crime.
The gangs like to use young people with no criminal records because they have no previous interaction with gardai and the gangs feel it lessens their chances of being traced.
Protect yourself from online shopping fraud
12th March 2021 - Emer Higgins, TD
Shoppers should be extra vigilant when purchasing goods online following a rise in fraudulent activity, a Fine Gael TD has said.
Emer Higgins, Fine Gael spokesperson on Social Media and Finance Technology, said people need be fully aware of how they can be scammed when making online transactions.
Deputy Higgins said, “Last year we saw a total of €22 million in credit and debit cards losses due to fraud and the Gardaí tell us that there was a 50% increase in these crimes over the Christmas period alone.
“This week is Fraud Awareness Week and we’re all doing more online shopping these days with many starting to shop online for the first time.But even if you’re a seasoned digital shopper, it’s important not to let your guard down because there are scammers out there.
More than 260,000 credit and debit cards frauds, totalling €22 million in value, hit Irish people last year, leading gardai to warn people about the dangers of online shopping.
As part of Fraud Awareness Week gardai have said online transaction frauds were up 50pc in 2020 compared to 2019.
And with a large increase in online shopping due to Covid restrictions the amount of money being spent online is being taken advantage of by fraudsters who are constantly assessing what is in demand and what they can make money on most quickly.
Detective Inspector Mel Smyth of the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) said there are three main types of victims in online fraud - a person who buys something and does not receive it, a person who sells something but gets no payment, and a financial institution when compromised cards or bank accounts are used to make online purchases.
Gardai have issued advice on how to avoid online shopping fraud after Irish consumers lost €22 million in credit and debit card fraud last year. Onlin.