“This factor makes it easier for scam syndicates to milk money from their victims.
“These are ‘bought’ at RM500 per account from the original account holders for use to transfer the ill-gotten gains.
“A victim’s money that has been defrauded will be put into a mule account and then transferred to several other mule accounts before finally being withdrawn in a short period of time, making it difficult to track the money,” he told Bernama.
Mustafar said these “mule account” holders handed over their automated teller machine (ATM) cards and pin numbers to others for the purpose of being used in criminal activities.
He said records show that more than 25,000 online cheating cases were recorded last year involving losses of RM850 million. As such, more action is needed against those who sell their accounts to be used for fraud.
Mustafar said the government was seriously examining existing legal provisions that can be used or amended for the purpose of enabling fraud money to be returned to the victims.
Police had announced that they would share information with banks and financial institutions on these “mule bank accounts” so that the owners can be blacklisted and not allowed to open a new account.
Last year, Bukit Aman police said the trend in commercial crime was increasing with the use of “mule accounts” by criminals.
In 2021, a total of 29,769 bank accounts were found to have been used as ”mule accounts”. Until May 10 in 2022, a total of 1,669 “mule accounts” were recorded.
Of that number, a total of 12,659 individuals were arrested and charged with various offences for allowing their bank accounts to be used for criminal activities. Many of them have been charged in court.
On April 18, Singapore tabled amendments in Parliament to the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (CDSA) and the Computer Misuse Act to make it easier for the authorities to prosecute offenders who help launder money for scammers.
The bills propose to give the police more power to act against money mules. Currently, a large number of money mules arrested by the police cannot be prosecuted due to difficulties in proving their intent to facilitate criminal activities.