The U.S. Attorney’s office for the Western District of North Carolina
joined the Justice Department, FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and other federal
law enforcement agencies to announce the completion of the Money Mule Initiative, an annual
campaign to identify, disrupt, and criminally prosecute networks of individuals who transmit
funds from fraud victims to international fraudsters. Fraudsters rely on money mules to facilitate
a range of fraud schemes, including those that predominantly impact older Americans, such as
lottery fraud, romance scams and grandparent scams as well as those that target businesses or
government pandemic funds.
“Criminals perpetrating lucrative financial schemes that defraud unsuspecting American
businesses and individual consumers are serious threats to our economic security and stability,”
said U.S. Attorney King. “Through our collaboration with our law enforcement counterparts, we
aim to identify and dismantle money mule networks and bring perpetrators to justice. Equally
important are our efforts to increase public awareness, by educating consumers on how to avoid
becoming unwitting money mules and understanding the risks and consequences of being
involved in this illegal activity.”
As part of this year’s initiative, law enforcement took action to stop over 3,000 money mules
responsible for facilitating a range of fraud schemes. These thousands of actions ranged from
criminal prosecutions designed to punish those intentionally assisting fraudsters to warning
letters intended to advise those who may have been unknowingly recruited by fraudsters.
Agencies are also conducting outreach to educate the public about how fraudsters use money
mules and how to avoid unknowingly assisting fraud by receiving and transferring money.
More than 20 individuals were criminally charged for knowingly receiving and forwarding victim
funds or otherwise laundering fraud proceeds. These cases included:
• The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina charged two men
for allegedly laundering over $4.5 million in proceeds of business email compromise
schemes and online romance scams targeting elderly victims. The defendants opened bank
accounts to receive wires and other transfers of funds from fraud victims. The defendants
then withdrew and transferred the fraud proceeds, including transfers into overseas
accounts, and kept a portion of the proceeds for themselves.
• The Consumer Protection Branch and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New
Jersey charged five defendants for allegedly acting as couriers who went to the homes of
elderly victims of a grandparent scam to pick up cash, often using false names and
providing victims with fake receipts. The couriers then brought the cash to other members
of the conspiracy, who sent the victims’ money to the Dominican Republic.
• The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri charged three men for their
roles in allegedly collecting and transmitting funds from victims of a nationwide tech
support fraud scam targeting the elderly. According to charges, one of the defendants
recruited college students to act as couriers to collect payments from victims around the
country and to fraudulently open bank accounts into which the proceeds of the scam would
be deposited. The other two defendants allegedly provided the couriers with assignments,
instructions, and payment. The defendants deposited about $7 million in cashier’s checks
into one bank account between March 2020 and July 2023.
“The Justice Department is committed to using every tool at our disposal to protect Americans
from fraud,” said Acting Associate Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer. “By working with our
federal partners to disrupt money mule networks, educate consumers about scams, and prosecute
criminals, we can keep money out of the hands of international fraudsters and in the pockets of
hard-working Americans.”
Additionally, participating agencies served approximately 2,970 letters warning individuals that
their actions were facilitating fraud schemes. Many money mules begin as victims of romance or
lottery scams and are unknowingly lured by fraudsters into transmitting fraud proceeds based on
lies. Other money mules are recruited into what they initially believe to be legitimate work-athome jobs. In order to educate and deter these types of unknowing money mules, the letters
served by law enforcement warned individuals that their activities are facilitating fraud and
outlined the potential consequences of continuing to transmit illegally acquired funds.
This year’s effort was coordinated by the Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch,
FBI, and USPIS. Other participating agencies were the Department of Labor Office of Inspector
General, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General, U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and IRS Criminal
Investigation (IRS-CI).
“The FBI and its partners will relentlessly pursue individuals looking to illegally move funds for
illicit purposes,” said Assistant Director Michael Nordwall of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative
Division. “Our work of protecting the American people includes prosecuting individuals and
networks who knowingly facilitate fraud schemes, while educating consumers and unwitting
participants on the dangers of illicit money mule networks.”
“The dismantling of these criminal networks should send a strong message that the U.S. Postal
Inspection Service, along with our partners, is committed to taking down these criminal networks
designed to inflict financial harm, oftentimes to our most vulnerable population, older
Americans,” said Inspector in Charge Eric Shen of USPIS. “The Inspection Service will continue
to participate in public education efforts, while remaining committed to enforcing the laws that
bring money mules and their international puppeteers to justice.”
As in past years, participating agencies are also working to raise public awareness about how
fraudsters recruit and use individuals to assist their fraud operations. IRS-CI implemented a public
awareness campaign to warn taxpayers about the ways in which fraudsters recruit money mules.
Additionally, the Justice Department and USPIS partnered with the American Banking
Association Foundation to present a webinar to banks regarding money mules and the role banks
can play in identifying and stopping them.
The agencies involved in this effort urge consumers to be on the lookout for signs someone is
trying to recruit them to receive and transmit fraud proceeds. Do not agree to receive money or
checks mailed to you or sent to your bank account for someone you have met over the phone or
online. Do not open a bank or cryptocurrency account at someone else’s direction. Fraudsters will
lie to persuade you to help them. They may falsely tell you that they are helping you get a lottery
prize, initiate a purported romantic relationship and then tell you that they need money, or pretend
to offer you a job, an opportunity to invest in a business venture, or the chance to help in a
charitable effort.
If you or someone you know is age 60 or older and has experienced financial fraud, experienced
professionals are standing by at the National Elder Fraud Hotline: 1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-
8311). This Justice Department hotline, managed by the Office for Victims of Crime, can provide
personalized support to callers by assessing the needs of the victim and identifying relevant next
steps. Case managers will identify appropriate reporting agencies, provide information to callers
to assist them in reporting, connect callers directly with appropriate agencies, and provide
resources and referrals, on a case-by-case basis. Reporting is the first step. Reporting can help
authorities identify those who commit fraud and reporting certain financial losses due to fraud as
soon as possible can increase the likelihood of recovering losses. The hotline is open Monday
through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. English, Spanish, and other languages are
available. The Federal Trade Commission also provides a hotline at 877-FTC-HELP and a website
at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov to receive consumer complaints.
More information about the Department’s efforts to help American seniors is available at its Elder
Justice Initiative webpage. For more information about the Consumer Protection Branch and its
enforcement efforts, visit www.justice.gov/civil/consumer-protection-branch. The Justice
Department provides information about a variety of resources relating to elder fraud victimization
through its Office for Victims of Crime, which are available at www.ovc.gov.
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