The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Not bright: Money Spark fools Brits
Almost one third of Britons would apply for a job as a money mule, helping criminals launder money. That’s the finding of an experiment carried out by Santander to shed light on just how convincing the “bogus job ad” is – a technique criminals use to lure people looking for work into transferring money connected to criminal activity.
Santander’s experiment involved presenting 2,000 British adults with a falsified job description to work at a fictitious company called Money Spark as a “Financial Transaction Control Analyst”.
Details of the role included “receiving and processing of incoming cash funds” and “transferring of funds to accounts indicated by our managers”.
While some people were suspicious of the description of the role and spotted the tell-tale spelling mistakes and bogus link in the ad, one in three (32%) said they would definitely apply for the job if they were looking for work. What’s more, one in four (27%) said they would leave their current job to join Money Spark.
Alarmingly, upon learning the job was a front for criminal activity, seven per cent said they would still accept the job.
Only 15% correctly spotted the role was for a money mule. Although 91% of Britons are familiar with the term money laundering, almost three quarters (71%) of those taking part had not heard of the term “money mule”.
The research also suggests many Brits are not aware of the true risks associated with becoming a money mule. Sixty-nine per cent of the “applicants” in the study did not think becoming a money mule and partaking in the movement of stolen funds (unwittingly or not) could lead to a jail term in excess of three years (money launderers can face a maximum prison sentence of 14 years).
Meanwhile, around a quarter of people thought the punishment would be no more than a fine or a warning. This form of criminality is an increasing problem, with the latest official statistics showing that the number of Britons using their bank account for money mule activity has grown by 55% in the past year.
Around four per cent of respondents to Santander’s research believed they or someone they knew had been approached by a criminal looking to recruit money mules, with this figure doubling to eight per cent for those in the 18-24 age bracket – that’s around 453,3604 young adults across the UK.
Chris Ainsley, head of fraud strategy at Santander UK, said: “Santander is committed to helping consumers protect themselves against scams and fraud. Criminals often target vulnerable people, such as those desperate for a job, and our research illustrates how easily some people can be tricked into falling victim.
“We are seeing a rise in the number of fake job ads such as the one used in our experiment and raising awareness of the issue is key to preventing people unwittingly getting involved and ultimately facing life-changing consequences for their actions.”
Other detail from the research revealed that flexible working was the most appealing aspect (80%) to those who were attracted to the job, followed by low working hours (62%), perceived career progression and personal development (44%).
Those aged 18 to 24 were the most likely to apply for the job, followed by those in the 25 to 34-year-old bracket. Regionally, those based in Northern Ireland came out as the most likely to apply for the job, followed closely by Yorkshire and Humber and West Wales.
After the experiment, 72% of those taking part said they will now be more suspicious and cautious concerning these types of job descriptions in future.