The US Postal Inspection Service and the FBI have seized about 18 websites belonging to money mules recruitment schemes that offer people money for processing simple requests.
Victims (hired people) are often asked to receive and send money or items to said locations and be paid in small commissions for each order. Though it seems like a simple task, they are compromising their financial and personal details in this process and may be shipping illegal items.
Hiring Money Mules for Crimes
Have you ever been asked by anyone to send or receive an item on their behalf? If so, consider that you’ve been hired as a money mule in their operation and may have committed a crime without being known!
You may be asked to ship a simple item that you receive from someone else or transfer money in the same way – all constituting mule programs. Scammers often hire unsuspecting people to launder their goods or money obtained through scams in this way.
They start up by hiring people with various names through various means. In the US, the FBI and Postal Inspection Service have seized 18 domains belonging to such schemes, where scammers are hiring people to launder their items for a commission.
Terming this as a simple work-from-home job, recruited people are asked to transfer money using their details or ship items from their address – and be paid $20 for each processed order.
The sized domains posed as a legitimate company offering jobs as “quality control inspectors,” says the DOJ. The agency has been investigating this operation since February last year and used a victim’s account to track the process. Below are the domains seized in this operation;
- amari-dash.com
- control-scorpio.com
- costa-account.com
- dash-amari.com
- dashboard-zim.com
- dash-egreen.com
- dash-orient.com
- dash-satori.com
- dash-spt.com
- egreen-dash.com
- main-sgl.com
- navois-account.com
- orient-dash.com
- satori-dash.com
- scorpio-control.com
- spt-dash.com
- zim-dash.com
Though they held the domains, the operators of these operations were hiding in foreign countries, namely Russia, from the evidence the FBI held. If you’ve visited any of the above domains and had an interaction previously, you should immediately report it to the FTC and follow these instructions on what to do next.
“Protect yourself by refusing to send or receive money on behalf of individuals and businesses for which you are not personally and professionally responsible.”
If anyone asks you to receive or send money or an item on their behalf, consider that you’re being recruited as a money mule. FBI said that it not only jeopardizes your financial security but also comprises your personal information, aside from committing a crime without being aware of it.
