Interpol has launched a new awareness campaign that aims to urge individuals not to become money mules, after 15 suspects were arrested in connection with a major romance scam conspiracy.
The international policing organisation’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre (IFCACC) said the two-week global campaign aims to highlight the critical role mules play in modern crime.
The campaign will use the hashtag #YourAccountYourCrime on social media in an attempt to remind people that they are responsible for keeping their own bank accounts safe and that moving money on behalf of others could land them in trouble.
The campaign will cover how the industry works, the risks associated and how to avoid becoming a money mule.
Police have arrested over a dozen suspected money mules recently, linked to a Japanese man who they believe is responsible for a major romance fraud campaign.
Earlier this month, Hikaru Morikawa, 58, arrived at Kansai airport before being arrested in Ghana, according to reports. Morikawa is suspected of mastermining a group of romance scammers who posed as women on dating sites to tick victims into handing over money.
According to Interpol, the group is thought to have made around 400 million yen ($3m) from their scams.
“Criminals will go to great lengths to recruit money mules, because they play an essential role in distancing themselves from authorities and escaping detection. Money mule schemes can be disguised as employment, romantic relationships or investments, or simply as helping out a friend,” said Stephen Kavanagh, Interpol executive director of police services.
“At the end of the day, however, moving money for someone else, especially across borders, is risky business. Money mules, whether complicit or not, help perpetuate the criminal cycle and could face prosecution.”
The awareness campaign is being launched as part of Project TORAID, an Interpol initiative targeting financial crime funded by the Japanese government.
