Mule be sorry if you let crims cash in on your account

Warning over rise in people transferring stolen money for gangs

- BY OWEN CONLON

ALMOST €9.4million was laundered through Irish money mule accounts in a year while a third of 18-24-year-olds say they or someone they know have been approached to take part.

Details of the extent to which naive Irish people are being manipulated by international crime gangs were released by the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland's FraudSMART initiative yesterday.

It said that while the amounts moved through these accounts vary, they typically range between €5,000 and €10,000 per case.

Money mules are typically recruited by friends or via unsolicited social media approaches or text messages.

These promise payment for allowing the use of the recipient's bank account to move stolen cash either so it can be physically withdrawn or sent onwards abroad.

In Ireland, the west African-based Black Axe gang is one of the biggest criminal outfits involved, though others from eastern Europe have also been noted by gardai.