Financial firms are shutting down hundreds of thousands of suspected money mule accounts, but organised criminal groups are still shifting dirty money through multiple bank accounts before cashing out.
An FCA survey found firms have closed an increasing number of suspected mule accounts over the last 3 years: 238,396 suspected mules had their accounts closed in 2025, up from 184,935 in 2023 and 233,269 in 2024.
An increase in account closures could reflect broader customer growth alongside improvements in identifying and acting on suspected mule activity, rather than necessarily meaning mules make up a higher proportion of firms’ business.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) estimates more than £100bn is laundered through the UK or UK corporate structures each year. Money mule activity is one way criminals move these funds, by using people’s bank accounts to receive or transfer money on their behalf.
Account closures were highest among customers aged 26 to 39 (91,073), while the sharpest increase was among customers aged 40 to 49 (37,274 in 2025 up from 25,760 in 2024). Customers aged 25 and under (85,425) also represented a significant proportion of closures.
The financial regulator also found evidence that criminals moved fraudulent funds through multiple accounts, usually cashing out between the second and fifth account. By this stage, payments are harder to detect and trace, and shows that firms need to crack down on activity as early as possible.
Some accounts had been used repeatedly for mule activity before firms shut them down and had also been used for fraud. This points to an established criminal infrastructure rather than opportunistic, isolated incidents.
The FCA, NCA, Home Office, the Treasury, HMRC and industry are leading on 9 system priorities (PDF) as part of the UK’s response to economic crime. The FCA is playing a key role on the money mules priority by working with industry on an action plan to tackle the problem, including better ways for firms and law enforcement to share intelligence on suspected money mule activity.
Steve Smart, executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA, said:
'Money muling is a crime and it's not victimless. It makes it harder to recover stolen cash and helps criminals move and hide the proceeds of serious offending. People should be wary of contact out of the blue, including via online channels, asking them to funnel money through their account as they could face prosecution.
'It's good that financial firms are taking action on mules, but banks, law enforcement, technology companies and consumers all have a role to play in stopping people being drawn into criminal activity.'
Money mule warning signs to look out for
- If you’re approached out of the blue online with an offer of quick cash, then alarm bells should ring.
- Scammers may call it a 'job offer' but no legitimate company will ask you to use your own bank account to transfer their money.
- Never give sensitive financial details to someone you don’t know and trust.
Be aware that the consequences of becoming a money mule could include losing access to your bank account and possible prosecution.
Find out more about money transfer scams.
Notes to editors
- Read our multi-firm review: Money mules: mule activity and cashing out findings.
- Alongside the National Economic Crime Centre, the FCA is alerting firms to its latest findings.
- Fighting financial crime is one of the FCA’s strategic priorities (PDF).
- The FCA surveyed 35 retail banks, building societies, challenger banks, payment institutions and e-money institutions.
- The FCA also established a public/private cell in 2025 – a working group with 22 regulated firms. The cell looked at 140 cases, covering 7 types of fraud.
- The FCA found card payments were the most common cash-out method and used to make lots of low-value transactions, or higher-value payments to local businesses and retailers. This can resemble legitimate consumer spending and be harder for firms to detect.
- Retail banks accounted for most transactions passing through mule accounts, whereas other firms experience lower volumes but higher-value transactions. This suggests different criminal behaviours, cash-out strategies and risk concentrations.
- The Home Office’s Fraud Strategy 2026 to 2029 recognises the role that money mule networks play in facilitating fraud and financial crime.
- This work follows previous publications on detecting and preventing money mules, and firms' use of the National Fraud Database (NFD) and money mule detection tools.
- The FCA enables a fair and thriving financial services market for the good of consumers and the economy. Find out more about the FCA.