The use of money mules to launder criminal money is increasing. At the time of this project, a large segment of money mules consisted of young people aged 18 to 25. Many of them were unaware of the serious consequences of their actions. Money mules almost always end up being tracked down and found complicit in money laundering, leading to severe financial repercussions such as frozen bank accounts, police reports, and blacklisting, which makes it difficult to access banking services in the future.

Money mule recruiters often use social pressure and requests for help to manipulate potential money mules into sharing their bank details. Think of building trust, acting as if they are friends, altercasting, or making use of the need to belong. and a sense of camaraderie to manipulate young people into sharing their bank details. In addition, the attitude of “this won’t happen to me” prevails, which shows that the risk perception of being recruited (unwillingly) is lower than is realistic.

For a Dutch bank, I was tasked with researching the psychological mechanisms behind money mule recruitment and developing behavioral interventions aimed at preventing people from falling victim to fraud.