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期货和衍生品行业监管动态
CFTC Warns Students and Job Seekers Not to Become “Money Mules”
(2024/5/13)
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Office of Customer Education
and Outreach (OCEO) today issued a customer advisory warning students and other
job seekers looking for remote work to be aware of the warning signs and dangers of
“money mule” scams. Money mule scams involve individuals sending and receiving
money into their bank accounts, digital wallets, or spot-market crypto trading
accounts as part of their job duties or at the direction of others.
The warning comes as part of CFTC’s participation in the global Money Mule
Initiative, an annual international effort to disrupt money laundering networks. During
this year’s Money Mule Initiative campaign, the U.S. Department of Justice reported,
agencies took actions against more than 3,000 money mules, including criminal
charges against 24 individuals.
“Young people looking for summer jobs may be just looking for part-time
income and could be attracted to offers that require being online a few hours a day,”
said OCEO Director Melanie Devoe. “Unfortunately, they could become unwitting
accomplices to money laundering or what the criminals call ‘money mules,’ and that
association could land them in jail.”
Criminal organizations rely on networks of people to move illicit funds between
bank accounts, currencies, and blockchains in an attempt to evade law enforcement.
In some cases, the criminals involve people who may not realize they are participating
in a criminal scheme. They may think they’re helping a friend, doing a favor for a
love interest, or performing job duties. However, the consequences – often in the form
of criminal charges – remain the same for witting and unwitting participants.
The 2024 paper by University of Texas researchers John Griffin and Kevin Mei,
“How Do Crypto Flows Finance Slavery? The Economics of Pig Butchering,” states
relationship confidence frauds, also known as financial grooming frauds, rely on
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