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The UK’s financial watchdog has sounded the alarm over a sharp rise in so-called money mule activity, underscoring the scale of financial crime now coursing through the payments system.
More than 225,000 individuals were identified as money mules in 2024, according to new data shared by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), marking a 23% increase in just one year.
Mules
UK money mule surge
Money mules allow criminals to pass illicit funds through their bank accounts, disguising their origin before transferring them on.
The FCA said the issue had become a structural enabler of fraud — now the most common crime in Britain, accounting for 45% of all reported offences in the year to March.
Andrea Bowe, the FCA’s director overseeing fraud policy, said the regulator was coordinating with banks, law enforcement agencies and international counterparts.
She also pressed technology platforms to intervene more aggressively, as social media has become a primary channel for recruiting new mules.
Fresh research by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), drawing on transaction data from Lloyds Banking Group, warned that mule accounts were now integral to a threat landscape that “undermines the rule of law and threatens the financial sector”.
Faster Payments
RUSI’s analysis shows that over half of the funds entering mule accounts are moved within an hour, largely via the UK’s Faster Payments system.
A fifth of the money tracked by Lloyds was channelled through a single, unnamed digital finance firm.
Fintechs and banking-as-a-service providers are cited as especially exposed, reflecting their rapid onboarding and reliance on automated controls.
RUSI urged the sector to share more real-time data to detect suspicious flows before money disappears across multiple accounts.
Despite the surge in mule accounts, the number of cases reported to the UK’s national fraud database has fallen.
Cifas, the fraud prevention agency, recorded a 17% drop in filings in H1 2025, largely driven by fewer cases among under-30s.
Analysts caution that this does not reflect a fall in activity, but rather shifts in regulatory guidance encouraging firms to treat vulnerable customers more carefully.
Many younger mules are coerced or deceived into laundering money, often unaware it is a criminal offence that can lead to imprisonment.
Whack-a-Mole
Industry experts describe the challenge as “whack-a-mole”: tackling mule accounts in one area only for them to reappear elsewhere.
Meanwhile, fraudsters are increasingly instructing recruits on how to evade scrutiny during bank checks, making detection harder.
For the UK’s payments sector, the rise of money mules exposes a critical weakness.
Faster, frictionless payments have been a triumph of innovation, but they also provide criminals with instant escape routes.
Unless banks, fintechs and regulators can align on real-time data sharing and enhanced due diligence, the cost of convenience may continue to be counted in billions siphoned from the legitimate economy.
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