Student On-line Grooming and Recruitment for Money Muling & Violent Crime is an Epidemic
Dire warnings are being issued from law enforcement in Europe, Canada the US, Australia, New Zealand and the EU about High School and University age students being groomed and recruited on-line to become money mules. This ispart of a global trend of criminal organizations who deploy sophisticated AI tools to lure unsuspecting children and young people to commit an array of chilling crimes including money laundering, sextortion and murder. Catherine De Bolle, former Executive Director of EURPOL the European Police Agency, stated in an interview with ABC last month that children and young people are being recruited as criminals at an “industrial scale”.
Cyber-Criminals target high school and university students who are vulnerable when looking for part time and seasonal work during the summer months.Many of the victims initially respond to Student Job ads and are promised high hourly rates and bonuses to do remote work at home. Many of these students are recruited through gaming and social sites such as Discord , Roblox , Telegram Fortnite, and TikTok. “Once the victim engages with the criminal, they are asked to hand over their bank details to allow money – which has been obtained illegally – to be moved in and out of their account, thereby becoming a mule. In return, the victim is given a cut of the money, which is what makes the offer appear so appealing.”
International student bank accounts in Canada have been identified as a key money laundering gateway for criminal groups and has proliferated so badly that Aaron McAllister, vice-president of fraud threat management at Scotiabank (one of Canada’s largest banks) stated last month that “AI is being deployed at the financial institution to detect fraudulent activity, particularly when it comes to tackling the growing problem of “money mules.”The problem has also been growing rapidly in the UK.In 2019 a 20 year old male from Manchester who was pursuing a modelling career was recruited as a ‘mule’ through social media and eventually had his bank account closed and waited over a year to clear his name because of the crime he committed. He was lucky. Muling money through a personal bank account for laundering purposes carries a 14 year prison sentence in the UK. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK reported in 2024 “that more than 207,889 personal accounts were used for money muling– a 22% rise on 2023.”
Australia has also seen an exponential rise in students being successfully targeted by criminal organizations in becoming Money laundering mules by using their own personal bank accounts.According to Australian New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) “students and unemployed people accounted for roughly one-third of scam and fraud fund recipients identified between September 2025 and March 2026. During that same period, the bank flagged around 4,000 high-risk accounts for further investigation linked to suspected money mule activity. “ These alarming statistics and media articles coming from Australia, the UK and Canada typify the dilemma facing other Western countries.Teenagers and Students are not only being aggressively recruited on-line to perform money laundering and violent crimes; they themselves are actively carrying out the crimes and in most cases are aware that what they are doing is illegal.
In 2024 the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of the United States issued a warning that “students and other job seekers looking for remote work to be aware of the warning signs and dangers of “money mule” scams.” As far back as 2023 the FBI issued an alert that “ teenagers and young adults are being recruited on social media and online gaming platforms by producers of child sexual abuse material.” The criminals disguise themselves as IT service providers and ask the unsuspecting student to “ to accept payments from the company’s customers through digital payment platforms. In return, the individuals can keep a percentage of the money”. Students of several US universities have been convicted of money laundering and other fraudulent crimes.In 2025 a foreign student from Nigeria enrolled at the University of Missouri was convicted of fraud and received a 41 month prison sentence.
In many cases innocent University students worldwide are initially duped by the criminal networks into providing their personal bank account details to the fraudsters who then deposit money into their accounts to then be transferred to unknown third party bank accounts. Sometimes the fraudsters have the student mules withdraw cash to pay to unknown persons. Students of high school and University age are at high risk for grooming and recruitment on-line just like children are. The other vulnerable sector is foreign students as observed in Canada. Australia in particular has close to 200,000 students from China many of whom have been targeted in these scams. Chinese students in Australia who have been legally prosecuted for money muling claim they were duped into their criminal activities.
But one must wonder how on earth did these students not know that they were engaging in criminal activity?A Judge in Ireland made his opinion known on this subject in a criminal case involving a 20 year old student (Ryan Odusanya ) who was a ‘Student of the Year’ yet admitted to being a money mule but claimed he was duped and came from a good family. Judge Martin Nolan who presided over the case in the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in December 2025 told Mr. Odusanya’s legal counsel that "I am getting fed up with young people coming into this court and saying I was young and I was stupid. Every one of them knows people are going to benefit and people are going to lose". I totally agree with Judge Nolan. Students who are convicted of being money mules cannot just plead ignorance. Their crimes destroy lives and for that they should face justice and prison time. Without that there will be no deterrent to stop this ever-growing menace.