In Belarus, fraudsters are luring people into becoming money mules under the guise of short-term business trips to Russia. This was warned by the Department for Combating Illegal Use of Information and Communication Technologies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia.
Citizens of the Republic of Belarus are offered "easy money" - a one-day business trip to Russia to open a bank card.
Belarusians come across various publications on Telegram and social networks promising "easy" money. It's simple – you need to go to Smolensk, Moscow or St. Petersburg, and then apply for a Russian bank card for "processing" or "crypto-arbitrage."
In fact, fraudsters need a bank card to withdraw money stolen from victims. The person who оформляет the card becomes an accomplice to the crime.
In Russia, they want to introduce criminal liability for money mules. According to the new amendments to Article 187 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the transfer of a bank card or cash to fraudsters is punishable by imprisonment for up to six years, as well as fines from 300,000 rubles to 1 million rubles.
Read more on the topic:
Who are money mules and why are they being actively fought against: a detailed analysis
The army of money mules in Russia has grown to 2 million: fraudsters are changing tactics
Sber proposed to fight money mules by introducing standards for banks
80 thousand Russians become money mules every month
How not to accidentally become a money mule: simple rules
Money mule unwillingly: Russians were warned about a new fraud scheme