If you’re job hunting, or looking to pick up some extra cash, beware of being lured into becoming a “Money Mule” for organized crime. A money mule, or phishing mule, is a middleman for hackers and phishers, used to electronically transfer stolen money from compromised bank or credit card accounts. The mule then wires the money to the hacker, and keeps part of the ill-gotten loot. However, acting as a mule is illegal activity, and if you’re caught, accounts are typically suspended and you may be prosecuted. You may also find yourself a victim of identity theft, as mules are often required to provide detailed personal information, including bank accounts and social security numbers.

Increasingly, the criminals are relying on social networks and job-hunting web sites to recruit their mules. Span, advertisements on legitimate web sites and instant messaging are also used to find mules. They offer jobs with titles like “financial manager”, “sales manager” and “regional representative”, and the job offer often states that “no special knowledge is required” and you can work from home.

In one recent case, a mule was approached by email, with a claim that the thieves had found her resume on careerbuilder.com. She was “hired” as a “financial manager”, and soon almost $10,000 was transferred into an account that she was told to set up. However, her real bank suspected that her transactions were fraudulent, closed her account and contacted authorities.

Some experts think that this type of fraud will increase due to high unemployment rates. Earlier this year, the FBI said, "Work-at-home schemes attract otherwise innocent individuals, causing them to become part of criminal schemes without realizing they are engaging in illegal behavior.” The spam and web sites use for solicitation appear very legitimate; some have been running for months at a time. An extensive list of web sites engaged in this type of fraud is at http://www.bobbear.co.uk/index.html.

Be very careful about any unsolicited offer for easy money, particularly if the alleged company is overseas. Verify any company that makes you a job offer, and confirm their contact details such as address, phone number, web site and email addresses. Remember, that if it seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.