Money mule recruiters get more brazen

The criminal gangs behind the phishing scourge are getting more and more brazen in their attempts to lure 'money mules' to launder money from stolen bank accounts.

Typically, money mule recruiters try to stay undercover, listing on Craigslist and major job sites for stay-at-home positions titled "shipping manager," "private financial receiver" or "sales representative." These listings, as I wrote in this 2006 eWEEK story, are attempts to entice people mostly in the in the U.S., U.K. and Australia to to transfer illegal funds from credit card thieves.

Now, as this Web forum shows, the recruitment is out in the open, brazenly admitting to money laundering with offers of 10% for every international transfer made.

The forum, which lists 166 members and thousands of messages, provides a detailed how-to guide for mules around the world.

[ SEE: Storm Worm botnet could be world’s most powerful supercomputer ]

According to Symantec security researcher Nicolas Falliere, this specific forum is linked to the powerful 'Storm Worm' botnet controlled by phishers and spammers in Russia.

Falliere notes the surreal nature of this discussion happening in the open with people on the bulletin board asking questions about the highest amount one can receive at once, and how long she/he would have to wait to get the funds transferred.