Money muling has recently been highlighted as a growing risk for young people. Now, experts are raising the red flag about its risks. Nicola Harding, a fraud expert at the University of Lancaster, emphasized that money muling is “probably one of the biggest threats to young people now.” After experiencing a 65 percent increase in such cases during the last five years, prosecutors are becoming concerned by the growing trend.
Jeremy Asher, founder of the Financial Fraud Awareness Campaign, expressed his concerns. He asked parents to be extremely vigilant during the holidays and whenever children are out of school. He noted that young people are particularly at risk for falling for these types of scams. In doing so, they tend to pursue near-term profits without understanding the financial risks associated.
Statistics reveal a troubling reality: in 2024, the Financial Conduct Authority reported that 207,889 personal accounts were implicated in money muling activities. This is a 22% increase over last year. The biggest share of people participating in these schemes were between the ages of 22-29, making up 33% of all incidents.
Increasingly, money muling includes people who unknowingly assist criminals launder money. They allow these evildoers to move dirty money through their bank accounts. Many young Brits, such as Derai, a 19-year-old aspiring model from Manchester, regularly pursue the call of quick cash. Sadly, they fall prey to these ruses. Derai wanted to make some “fast money” in order to move to London and start his modeling career. Without much thought, within days large sums of money started landing in his account, a great way to temporarily cover shortfalls.
Derai’s experience became immediately life-threatening when his bank account was immediately closed after an ATM machine absorbed his card. His Cifas marker was added to his account for the duration of six years. This red flag lets the banks know to look out for his participation in money muling. This mark severely damaged Derai’s financial prospects, making it difficult for him to open any new bank accounts or access credit.
Derai was set on making things right. After nine months of overcoming bureaucratic hurdles, he finally won the day after convincing the financial ombudsman to clear the mark. His experience is a reminder that even innocent decisions can have ripple effects for decades. These decisions, taken while chasing short-term profits, can carry costly consequences.
The dramatic increase of these types of online scams, and specifically money muling, is troubling. These scams now account for 40% of all written crime in the UK. Victims receive little to no support during and after falls, resulting in a dramatic financial burden. They lose not only cash up front, but end up jeopardizing their future financial health and credit ratings.
According to Harding’s research, young people are disproportionately at risk. Their age and limited understanding of technology, given that social media platforms are where most of these scams are promoted, makes them vulnerable. The temptation of easy money can drown out the noise of high interest rates and other possible dangers, enticing people to walk a dangerous line. Asher urges parents to have these conversations with their children, reinforcing that it’s important to stay savvy to online schemes. They need to continue exercising judgment as parents and monitor their children’s online activity.