Is a stranger asking me to use my bank account to receive and pass on a business payment a scam?
Yes. This is money-mule recruitment, which is illegal even if you did not know the underlying source of the funds was criminal.
Last reviewed: 1 August 2026
Explanation
Money mule recruitment happens when someone asks you to receive money into your bank account and then forward it, keeping a percentage as a fee. The person recruiting you may pose as an employer, a romantic partner, a person needing help, or someone offering a simple 'agent' role for a foreign business. The money passing through your account is almost always the proceeds of fraud, drug trafficking, or other crime. Even if you receive it in good faith, using your account this way makes you a money mule, which is a criminal offence in most countries and can result in prosecution, a permanent ban from banking, and a criminal record. Banks detect unusual patterns and will freeze accounts suspected of mule activity.
The recruitment pitch is calibrated to the target: students and job-seekers get 'payment agent' roles with official-sounding contracts; romance contacts get a partner who 'can't access their account from abroad'; small favours are asked of people who would refuse a criminal proposition but will help a friend. The commission is the psychological anchor — being paid a percentage makes the arrangement feel like work rather than what it is, and the paperwork some operations provide exists purely to give you false comfort. None of it changes the legal reality: the money's origin, not your paperwork, defines the offence.
The consequences fall hardest on the mule because the mule is the traceable link: the fraudsters operate behind anonymity, while your name is on the account. Bank closure and industry-wide flags can follow even without prosecution, making everyday banking, credit, and some jobs harder for years. If money you cannot fully explain is in your account now, the least-bad path is the proactive one — do not move it, contact your bank, and report the person who asked. Acting before the freeze, rather than explaining after it, is the clearest evidence of innocence you can create.
Common red flags
- Stranger or new online contact asks you to receive money into your account
- You are asked to forward money minus a commission for yourself
- The person explains the need vaguely as 'helping a business' or 'currency exchange'
- Large sums appear in your account unexpectedly
- You are asked to buy cryptocurrency with the funds and send it to an address
What to do now
- Refuse any request to use your account to pass money for others
- Do not accept any payment into your account unless you know exactly its source
- If you have already received suspicious funds, contact your bank immediately
- Report the recruitment attempt to your national fraud reporting service
Frequently asked questions
What if I have already forwarded money on someone's behalf?
Contact your bank and the police immediately and explain the full situation. Cooperating with authorities is the best way to demonstrate you were misled and not a knowing participant.
They gave me a contract calling me a 'payment agent' — doesn't that make it legal?
No. Paperwork from the people recruiting you has no bearing on the money's origin, which is what defines the offence. Legitimate payment processing is done by licensed businesses, never through private individuals' personal accounts.
What happens to me if my bank flags my account for mule activity?
Freezing and closure are typical, and industry-wide fraud markers can follow even without prosecution — making accounts, credit, and some jobs harder for years. Contacting your bank first, before the freeze, is materially better than explaining afterwards.