How Mule Account Recruiters Operate

Recruiters follow a script

Mule account recruiters can follow a script, changing the story to suit the platform and the person.

Knowing the method helps, because the request may not look criminal at first. It can look like a job, a favour or easy money.

Step one: finding someone who needs money

Recruiters look for people short of money and open to a quick offer. Students, fresh graduates, gig workers and job seekers can be targets.

They can post ads widely and cheaply, and need only a few of the people they reach to say yes.

Using many small account holders may also protect the syndicate. Each loss stays small and the people at the top stay hidden.

Step two: building trust first

The first messages are friendly and professional. The recruiter may describe a company, a job title, a daily wage and some simple tasks.

This is meant to lower your guard. By the time they ask for your account, you feel you are dealing with a normal employer, not a stranger online.

A few days of polite messages make the later request feel like a normal next step. The patience is preparation, not kindness.

Step three: disguising the request for your account

Underneath, the request is the same: give them access to a bank account. It is called a “company account”, a “salary account”, a “payment processing” task or a trust test for new staff.

The moment you give someone else control of your own account without lawful authority or lawful purpose, that is the act in Penal Code section 424B: a fine of RM10,000 to RM100,000, or 1 to 7 years’ jail, or both ^[f1].

If instead you are given someone else’s card or account to hold, section 424A can apply: a fine of RM5,000 to RM50,000, or 6 months to 5 years’ jail, or both ^[f2].

Step four: paying just enough to keep you in

The pay is made to feel like a real wage, such as a small “commission” per transfer or a daily rate.

The pay is also a hook. Once money has changed hands and transfers have gone through your account, it feels harder to walk away. Some people feel they owe the recruiter, and recruiters can use that feeling.

Step five: what happens when your account is used

Once scam money passes through your account, the trail leads to you. A victim reports it, the 997 hotline can lead to a quick freeze, and police trace the money to your account ^[f5].

Your account may then appear on the Semak Mule portal, which anyone can search ^[f3]. Police detected 46,048 mule accounts in 2023 and 50,295 in 2024 ^[f4].

Warning signs to look for

Watch for:

• a job that pays you to receive and pass on money
• an “employer” who wants access to your bank account
• a role with no office, no contract and no clear company

If you see yourself in these steps, stop. Keep the advert and chats, and get advice before giving a statement. A lawyer can help you show what you were told and what you believed.

Sources

1. https://www.lawnet.com.my/penal-code
2. https://semakmule.rmp.gov.my/
3. https://www.rmp.gov.my/
4. https://www.nsrc.gov.my/