The advert reads like campus gold: flexible hours, work from your laptop, “payment processing,” “client disbursements,” keep a percentage. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) have both warned students and job seekers that this is how criminal networks recruit money mules — people whose clean accounts hide stolen transfers.
Duties are vague on purpose. You open or use a personal account, receive money or crypto from people you never met, then wire it on, buy assets, or ship packages. The “salary” is a slice of each hop. In reality those funds often come from romance, investment or impersonation victims. Banks may freeze the account; law enforcement may treat repeated transfers as laundering even when you thought it was a job. Recruiters favour free webmail, chat-only bosses and urgency — classic signs on FBI and CFTC advisory lists.
A legitimate employer pays you from their payroll, not by parking other people’s money in your personal bank or wallet. Search the company name with “scam” and “complaint,” ignore roles whose only skill is moving value, and never open accounts because a stranger on a job board told you to. If a romance or “mentor” contact suddenly needs your account for a business favour, that is the same mule pattern in softer clothes.
If funds already hit your account on someone else’s instructions, stop transferring, tell the bank immediately, and report through Get help. Do not hire a paid “fixer” who wants fees to clean the trail — Fake recovery.
This article is for general information only. It is not legal or financial advice. Details change. If you have lost money, contact your bank or card issuer and use the routes on the help pages.