A common method is the use of “money mules”, which unwittingly help facilitate the laundering process. Scammers often recruit people through fake job postings, instructing them to transfer money or goods between accounts or locations, and effectively hide illegal transactions behind seemingly legitimate activities.
E-commerce sites have also become attractive fronts for money laundering schemes. Cybercriminals can easily set up fake online stores by giving the illusion of legitimate sales and transferring stolen money from one account to another. By using multiple user accounts or making fictitious sales on known e-commerce platforms, they can hide the source of their illegal earnings.
Criminals can also use money mules to convert illegal funds into gift cards or financial accounts, which can then be used to purchase services that were never actually provided. By operating on platforms such as Uber or Airbnb, they can offer these seemingly legitimate activities as a source of their funds.
Cryptocurrency exchanges and NFTs have also become attractive to cybercriminals. By exploiting vulnerabilities in individual crypto wallets or impersonating legitimate platforms, criminals can convert illegal funds into cryptocurrencies and then exchange them for fiat currency. NFTs, in particular, represent a viable avenue for money laundering due to high transaction costs and the difficulty of determining the value of digital art.
Source: Ferra
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