Security News > 2020 > March > Coronavirus Widens the Money Mule Pool

With many people being laid off or working from home thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic, cybercrooks are almost certain to have more than their usual share of recruitable "Money mules" - people who get roped into money laundering schemes under the pretense of a work-at-home job offer.

The "Vasty Health Care Foundation" is one of several fraudulent Web sites that recruit money mules in the name of helping Coronavirus victims.

These types of menial, meaningless tasks are a typical tactic of money mule recruitment schemes and they serve two main purposes: They separate out slackers from people who really need and want a job, and they help the employee feel like he's doing something useful and legitimate.

Money mule scammers specialize in hacking employer accounts at job recruitment Web sites like Monster.com, Hotjobs.com and other popular employment search services.

One mule vendor on a popular Russian-language crime forum posted Tuesday that his "Drops" - the hacker slang term for money mules - weren't scared of Coronavirus concerns.

News URL

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2020/03/coronavirus-widens-the-money-mule-pool/