More Singaporeans succumbing to money mule temptation

Singapore

THERE has been a spike in the number of Singaporeans acting as money mules, that is, individuals who let their bank accounts be used to receive ill-gotten funds.

The police have received a number of reports in which overseas banks have asked for their customers' funds to be recalled on the grounds that the remittances were fraudulent. And it is a matter of urgency for these overseas banks, because most of these funds are moved out of Singapore on the same day.

In the first nine months of this year, 133 cases involving $15.5 million were investigated - 43 per cent higher than the 93 cases that cropped up in the whole of last year, when $24.6 million was involved.

With these monies zipping electronically out of Singapore, the rate of recovery has not been sparkling: 20 per cent for the first nine months of this year. Last year's recovery rate was mor…