A systematic literature review of money mule: its roles, recruitment and awareness
| Date | 05 January 2023 |
| Pages | 347-361 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JFC-10-2022-0243 |
| Published date | 05 January 2023 |
| Author | Mohd Irwan Abdul Rani,Sharifah Nazatul Faiza Syed Mustapha Nazri,Salwa Zolkaflil |
A systematic literature review of
money mule: its roles, recruitment
and awareness
Mohd Irwan Abdul Rani
Accounting Research Institute, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia
Sharifah Nazatul Faiza Syed Mustapha Nazri
Faculty of Accountancy, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia, and
Salwa Zolkaflil
Accounting Research Institute, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to provide a systematic literature review (SLR) on contemporary cardinal
money muleissues.
Design/methodology/approach –This paper reviews the most common money mule themes in
perpetrating financial crime activities, especially its roles, recruitment and awareness. A systematic review
protocol calledpreferred reporting items for systematicreview and meta-analysis protocolsis adopted for this
study.
Findings –Money mules are used by organized criminalgroups (OCG) or fraudster to launder illicit funds
from outrageouscriminal activities. They allow their accounts to be used formoney laundering by OCG. The
attacker, OCGor fraudsters would layer the stolen funds usingmoney mule accounts. These money mules are
recruited using various approaches, oftentimes deceived by opulent lifestyles to captivate the interest of
potentialmoney mules.
Originality/value –This paper presents money mule awarenessneeded by accountant, bank employees
and the society. It is an unprecedented SLR on money mule. This paperwill be beneficial for future money
mule researchers,enforcement agencies and practitioners in bankingindustry.
Keywords Awareness, Fraud, Money mule, Organized criminal groups (OCG), Recruitment, Scam
Paper type Literature review
1. Introduction
Moneymuleisdefined as an individual who permits the use of the ir own banking account as
intermediaryto launder ill-gotten funds at the behest of the criminal (Europol, 2016;Federal
Bureau Investigation, 2020;Ratnayake, 2022). The dirty funds are acquired from illegal
activities which could trigger an alarm to the authority if theyare directly siphoned into the
criminalaccounts. By transferringthe illicit proceed rightaway into the criminal or attacker’s
account, thepath of money movement willquickly lead to the arraignof the perpetrator. The
synopsis of dirty money trail such as stolen fund can be obtained by the authority through
serving production order to the beneficiary bank. Whereupon the acceptance of the
production order, the beneficiary bank must surrender account holder information to
The corresponding author would like to extend gratitude to Persatuan Siswazah Wanita Malaysia for
the research grant.
Review of
money mule
347
Journalof Financial Crime
Vol.31 No. 2, 2024
pp. 347-361
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1359-0790
DOI 10.1108/JFC-10-2022-0243
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/1359-0790.htm
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting