What is a Money Mule and how can you avoid becoming one?

A money mule is somebody scammers use to change fraudulent or stolen cheques into real cash in order to avoid getting caught.  Money Mules are recruited by Job Seek postings or emails and are usually called a “financial manager”, “payment processor”, “transaction specialist”, or just a “representative” or “partner”.  But what you really are is a cheque-cashing middleman that puts themselves in harms way without knowing it.

The email or job posting usually talks about moneys being owed to the company and needing to cashed and then forwarded back to the company (using Western Union), minus a fee for you.   There are only two outcomes of being a money mule and both suck for you.
1. You will discover that the cheque or money order is a forgery
2. Or you find out that the payment is stolen

In both cases the payment is very likely going to be reversed or cancelled after you (the mule) have forwarded the money to the scammers.  Money sent by Western Union is usually not recoverable so you end up losing money and have the possibility of facing criminal charges for forgery or money laundering, all while the scammer is sitting pretty somewhere where the police won’t find them, and they’re sitting there with your money.

If you ever come across a job listing like this you need to run away as fast as you possibly can.  Being a mule is stupid and will turn you into an @$$.