He was promised an investment opportunity on Instagram – two weeks later, all his bank accounts were closed
When James* was followed by an Instagram account offering an investment opportunity he thought it would be a quick way to supplement his apprentice salary.
Two weeks later, all his bank accounts were closed, he had a fraud marker against his name and now he cannot even take out a new mobile phone contract.
He is one of thousands of “money mules” identified by Lloyds Bank – this is someone who transfers or moves illegally acquired money on behalf of someone else.
Scammers often use social media to find their victims, and many do not realise what they are doing is illegal. It is sometimes framed as a legitimate job or investment – some victims are drawn in by loved ones, who are also unaware they are acting as money mules.
The Lloyds bank mule-hunting team has uncovered more than 160,000 mule accounts and stopped more than £114m from getting into the hands of fraudsters since it was set up in 2018. There has been a 44% increase in money mules identified in the past year alone.
James was told he could make large profits by buying Bitcoin, and after being contacted by an unfamiliar account he agreed to invest £200 through an app.
James was then told to invest a further amount, which would give him an access code for withdrawing profits from the account, which had…
