Simple rules for using bank transfers can help Russians avoid participating in illegal financial schemes and criminal prosecution. This was stated by Maxim Semov, Chairman of the Committee for Improving Financial Literacy of the Association of Russian Banks, expert of the NIFI project of the Ministry of Finance of Russia "Myfinance.rf".
He emphasized that people who help fraudsters transfer money, the so-called money mules, are not direct participants in the crime, but without their help it could not have taken place. In this regard, the State Duma is considering a bill that provides for criminal penalties for money mules. The maximum penalty under this bill is up to six years of imprisonment and a fine of 100,000 to 500,000 rubles.
The expert advised following simple rules to avoid becoming an involuntary money mule:
1. Do not transfer payment instruments to third parties.
2. Do not disclose codes and passwords related to money transfers and access to personal accounts, whether banks or online services.
3. You will be safe if you do not fall for offers to earn money by transferring other people's money through your card.
Do not believe in fairy tales about optimization, cost reduction – money mules are needed to circumvent control procedures, which means they are used for dubious purposes. If funds have been received into your account from an unknown person, the only correct solution is to return them to the sender. To do this, you need to contact your bank and report the fact that funds have been mistakenly credited to your account. If the bank says that it cannot help you in any way, change the bank. This is a standard procedure for returning an erroneously credited amount, there is nothing complicated about it. And in no case use the received funds – they are not yours.
Semov emphasized that most people involved in money muling are young people. They do not attach importance to the moral aspects of their actions: they do not care where the money in their accounts comes from, and they do not realize that the transfers they make may be related to the theft of money from their parents.
They do not believe that the money they transfer can go to finance terrorist acts, that this money buys drugs and weapons.
What is the punishment for money muling?
The organizers of the schemes often assure teenagers that there will be no punishment for their actions, because there are no articles in the Criminal Code for transferring funds.
Although, of course, this is a deception – money mules are punished in aggregate for participating in fraud, for illegal banking activities, for tax crimes, and so on. In addition, the money mule risks blocking accounts and access to them.
Semov urged not to be afraid of the excessive application of criminal articles to people who became money mules by accident. He noted that now they say that such strict measures may be erroneous. For example, if a person technically participated in the transit of funds for some reason. For example, money came to his card from an unknown person who called and convinced him not to return it, but to transfer it to other details.
But the bill states that punishment will be applied to those who carry out such activities for selfish motives. That is, those who agreed to pay for their services. Those who knew that they would be paid for transferring dubious money. Those who received money for transferring their card or access to the account.
In addition, the project assumes that persons who are on the list of money mules for the first time and assisted in the disclosure of the crime will be released from liability.
Fraudsters have come up with a new way to deceive Russians. They pretend to be employees of banks or government agencies and ask them to give them a bank card for verification. The victim not only loses their money, but also becomes part of a criminal scheme. The head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Vladimir Kolokoltsev, said that every month 80 thousand Russians become money mules.
Read also on the topic:
Russia has defeated skimming: new technologies have ensured the security of issued bank cards
The Central Bank proposed to notify parents about banking operations of children
