Money Mule Herder

A money mule herder (also called a controller or coordinator) is the organising figure in a money mule network. While individual mules are often low-level participants — sometimes unwitting victims, sometimes knowingly complicit — the herder is a criminally experienced operator who oversees the entire process of moving illicit funds.

Herders recruit mules through various channels: fake job advertisements promising easy money for 'receiving and forwarding payments', social media posts offering commissions, or targeting financially vulnerable individuals. Once recruited, mules receive instructions from the herder on which accounts to accept funds into, when to forward them, and how to cover their tracks. Herders typically communicate via encrypted messaging apps and use multiple layers of mules — tier-one mules receive funds from victims, tier-two mules receive from tier-one accounts — increasing the distance between themselves and the original crime.

Mule herders are considered high-value targets by law enforcement because dismantling the herder's network disrupts multiple simultaneous fraud operations. However, herders operate from across jurisdictions, frequently change communication methods, and may themselves be insulated from direct contact with victims. Financial intelligence, cell phone analysis, and cooperative cross-border law enforcement efforts are the primary tools for identifying and prosecuting herders.