European Money Mule Action (EMMA) 7, Europol’s two-and-a-half-month-long collaborative anti-money mule operation which involved authorities of 26 countries as well as Eurojust, INTERPOL, the European Banking Federation (EBF) and the FinTech FinCrime Exchange, has finally come to an end. As part of this operation, authorities have arrested 1803 suspects and identified 18,351 money mules and 324 recruiters. Criminals had hired these money mules to launder illicit proceeds of online scams such as sim-swapping, e-commerce fraud, phishing, etc.
The following countries took part in the operation: Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Colombia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Germany, Hong Kong-China, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, United Kingdom, United States.
EMMA leverages information sharing between financial institutions, private sector actors and law enforcement authorities to identify suspicious financial activity and possible money mules. Around 400 banks and financial institutions participated in this operation. By reporting over 7000 fraudulent transactions, these organizations helped prevent a loss of around €67.5 million ($76.4m).
Source: Europol