Money mule
Also called money mules, mule account
Someone whose bank account is used to move stolen money, often recruited through a fake job or a "quick cash" offer.
Stolen money has to land somewhere that doesn't lead straight back to the criminals. Money mules provide that: ordinary bank accounts that receive the cash and pass it on, breaking the trail. Some mules know what they're doing; many are recruited with fake jobs, romance or offers of easy money, and only find out later.
AI is changing where mule accounts come from. The US financial crimes agency FinCEN warned that criminals use generative AI to fake identity documents and open accounts specifically to move money, so the "person" behind the account may not exist at all.
For real people, the rule is simple and absolute: your bank account is only for your own money. Any offer to pay you for using it is an offer to join a crime.
For example
A work-from-home "payments assistant" job asks you to receive transfers into your account and forward most of it on.
Put it to use
Where you'll meet money mule in ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude, how to use it there, and the mix-up most people make.
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