Once scammers successfully steal someone’s money, they need a place to stash it. So they are buying verified Canadian bank accounts in order to launder money. In the last 12 months, a Canadian cybercrime research firm identified 4,337 social media posts offering to purchase accounts.
The people who allow scammers to use their accounts are known as “money mules”. Many become implicated in the crime, even if they are recruited without knowing they are being used to launder money.
Alexandra Podazki is the Globe’s financial and cybercrime reporter. Today, she joins the show to explain what exactly is happening with this black market for verified bank accounts and why the demand for money mules seems to be growing.
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