The child money launderers aged 8

Gangs luring young with the promise of a Big Mac

CHILDREN as young as eight are being drawn into laundering cash for criminals with the promise of trainers and a Big Mac.

In a growing trend costing taxpayers £10billion a year, fraudsters are turning youngsters into ‘money mules’ by channeling money through their child bank accounts.

Launching a crackdown, security minister Tom Tugendhat said children were being exploited by gangs involved in drug dealing, human trafficking and even terrorism.

In one case, a boy of 14 and his family were threatened at gunpoint. Children of all social classes are being approached on social media and online gaming or through their friends at school, according to Mark Russell of the Children’s Society.

Last year, Money Mail revealed that the anti-fraud agency Cifas and banking trade body UK Finance had advised schools to hold urgent assemblies to warn of the dangers.

Children are often groomed by criminal gangs, who offer them the prospect of making easy money or being rewarded with treats such as a new phone or a pair of trainers.

They are typically convinced to provide their bank details, before being asked to transfer the funds received to another account and keep some of the cash for themselves – making them a money mule.

Mr Russell said that because of the cost of living crisis children were more readily accepting bribes – in some cases no more than a Big Mac meal at McDonald’s. ‘Children absorb their parents’ worries and if they are stressed about money then children will be too. If somebody offers them the chance to make some easy money, they are going to take it,’ he added.

A survey by the Children’s Society found that household finances were the top worry among young people last year. Once children carry out a task on behalf of criminals, the gangs will then coerce them into committing further offending, including through blackmail, debt bondage and sextortion, the Government has warned.

This can have devastating consequences for their future, ruining their chances of going to university, opening a bank account or getting a job. Mr Tugendhat said: ‘I am determined to prevent heinous criminals who exploit our children and profit from it, and it is paramount we stop this vicious cycle. It is absolutely key that parents and teachers look out for the signs of this financial dependency and exploitation.’

A new unit within the City of London Police will be created to improve responses to these cases and feed intelligence into regional organised crime units.

The Government is also funding a role at the Children’s Society to expand the education delivered to bank employees, teachers and the police.

Mr Tugendhat, who has backed the Mail’s Stop the Social Media Scammers campaign to force tech companies to better protect users, says children must be recognised as victims of financial crime and not perpetrators. He added: ‘Children’s futures are being stolen.’

‘Drug dealing and terrorism’