The Money Mule Solution: What Every Scam Has in Common
CYBERA's money mule intelligence, now in Recorded Future's Payment Fraud Intelligence, targets the shared exit point of $450B-$1T annual scam losses.
Scams, especially authorized push payment fraud, do not require a breach; Global Anti-Scam Alliance estimated ~$450B in 2025 losses while CYBERA co-founder Claudio Staub puts the real figure near $1 trillion when underreporting is counted. Every scam needs a mule account to receive funds, so CYBERA uses agentic personas to engage active scammers and extract verified mule account details before payments occur, now available as an add-on to Recorded Future's Payment Fraud Intelligence. CYBERA collected over 16,000 confirmed mule accounts across 72 countries in H2 2025, finding 28% remained active 30 days or more after identification, including one account in 25 engagements. In Europe 51% of mule accounts sat at neobanks and fintechs, while outside Europe 69% were at major banks; regulatory pressure like the UK's APP reimbursement mandate is raising the stakes for institutions.
- Every scam requires a mule account exit point, making it the most stable interception target.
- Mule accounts are designed to look normal, defeating post-transaction behavioral monitoring.
- CYBERA collected 16,000+ verified mule accounts across 72 countries in H2 2025; 28% stayed active 30+ days.
- 51% of European mule accounts sat at neobanks/fintechs; major banks held 69% outside Europe.
- Deepfakes, including fake CEOs in Teams calls, are lowering the barrier for convincing scam content.
- Vendors
- CYBERARecorded Future
- Products
- Payment Fraud Intelligence
- Organizations
- Global Anti-Scam Alliance
From the original article
5 min read at recordedfuture.com
Scams are a $450B–$1T global problem , and unlike card fraud, they don't require a breach; just convincing a victim to send money themselves. The mule account is the most stable target : every scam needs an exit point, and intelligence gathered before a transaction occurs is more actionable than behavioral monitoring after the fact.
By Conor Hoy · recordedfuture.com
A short excerpt; the article and its images belong to the publisher. Summary, key facts and assessment above are AI-written from the article and can be wrong.