Europol announced the arrest of 1,803 money mules of the 18,351 that were identified after an international operation to suppress the laundering of dirty money with the code name «EMMA 7».
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As its name suggests, this was the seventh EMMA (European Money Mule Action) operation, with the first taking place in 2016.
The Europol operation was based on a large‑scale cooperation of law‑enforcement services in 27 countries between 15 September and 30 November 2021.
The countries involved in this global crackdown on money laundering from illegal activities are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Colombia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, United Kingdom, United States.
During these 2.5 months, 2,503 individual investigations led to the collection of evidence and information regarding illegal online profit and its sources.
Overall, the operation prevented estimated losses of €67.5 million by stopping or reversing 7,000 fraudulent transactions in 400 financial institutions.
Most of the investigations carried out under EMMA 7 focused on the international dimension of the money laundering phenomenon.
See also: Europol: Suppresses criminal network that caused losses of €30 million
Money mules are individuals who receive and transfer money on behalf of scammers, helping them launder the stolen amounts in exchange for a small fee.
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Even though money mules do not participate in the scams, they continue to be a vital link in the chain of cybercrime, allowing hackers to «clean» the money and enjoy the fruits of their malicious work.
Information source: bleepingcomputer.com
