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| A Website Designed to Get ’Mules’ Uses Children as a Ruse PandaLabs has detected mass email messages that offer jobs at a supposed NGO committed to helping underprivileged children. However, it is actually a stratagem to find "mules", that is, people to launder stolen money. These emails have subjects like the following: 'Best Job No Experience Needed'. Whereas the message body text offers a well-paid job, working only a few hours a day for the alleged NGO. The lack of scruples of these fraudsters is even more apparent in the website which the link in the messages accesses. This website, which passes itself off as the site of charitable benefactors of childhood and uses images of children, tries to win over the confidence of potential "mules" to convince them to take the job offered. If users contact the fraudsters through the form in the website for this purpose, the fraudsters will reply to give them more details about the job. This involves receiving money, which is generally wired to bank accounts that the fraudsters can access by stealing confidential details using techniques like phishing. The "mule" must then send this money, minus a commission, to a certain addresses specified by the fraudsters. According to Luis Corrons, director of PandaLabs: "These fraudsters are not only looking for someone to launder the money, but also for a scapegoat, who the authorities will go after when the owner of the bank account they have cleaned out realizes what has happened. In this case, the minimum that the bank can demand is that the runner pay back all the stolen money, that is apart from other legal action that can be taken, which could even mean a prison sentence". Panda Software recommends all users to delete any messages of this type that reach their inboxes. What's more, they advise users not to provide any personal details that could be used for criminal activities. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Networking News :: home page |