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'Money Mules:' Scammers are sending victims bogus checks in the mail

The victim’s task is to deposit it into their bank account, and transfer part of the fund to a "charity." When fraudulent checks bounce, the victim's money is used.

Scammers can come up with some ingenious ways to separate you from your money, and one way is by sending you the check.

Scammers are gravitating to job websites such as Zip Recruiter or Indeed to attract users to their “company.”

Victims say scammers offer them a work-from-home position. The scammers say they need an assistant to help move money from their company to chosen charities.

“It sounds super easy,” FBI Special Agent Ben Busic said, “because all they have to do is accept the money that comes out of nowhere.”

Victims will receive a large check in the mail from the “company owner.” The victim’s task is to deposit it into their bank account, and transfer part of the fund to the other account said to be a charity. The victims are told they can keep the remaining money from the check as their pay.

“By the time the bank accepts the check, they’ll see that it bounces,” Busic said.

A bounced check means you sent your money to that charity—or in other words, the scammer's pocket.

In some cases, Busic said the checks actually are accepted. Victims may see that money in their account and may make a profit from it, but that still doesn’t mean they’re safe.

“What we, the FBI, investigate is terrorism,” Busic said. “And so a lot of these proceeds that are funneling through what we call as ‘money mules’ are from either overseas terrorist activities or even domestic activities.”

The victims, or “money mules,” unknowingly transfer money around to each other until it eventually makes its way to the scammer. This covers the scammer’s tracks. If the FBI tracks the money back to the victim, they’ll be warned but could face harder consequences if they continue to interact with these scammers.

“If it is very prevalent that you are doing this over and over, we will press charges,” Busic said.

The FBI says if you have a scam to report, make sure to visit IC3.gov.

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