CRIMINAL gangs are targeting hard-up Glasgow students to help them illegally launder thousands of pounds of stolen money.

Fraudsters use bogus job offers, which appear online or are sent in e-mails, and turn applicants into "money mules".

Unsuspecting victims do not realise the money- making scam leads to them working illegally.

People who apply are offered a job and asked to receive money into their bank account. They are then told to transfer it to another account, retaining a cut for themselves as their pay.

But the money being transferred is stolen, often as a result of fraud on another bank account, and is then laundered to overseas banks.

Mule fraud is a criminal activity and anyone involved could have their bank accounts frozen – and even face a jail sentence.

Today, independent charity Crimestoppers launched a campaign to warn Glasgow students about the fraudsters.

Crimestoppers representatives were at Glasgow Caledonian University handing out information leaflets and speaking to students about money mules. They will do the same again tomorrow.

The campaign aims to educate students about the dangers fraudsters can pose when approaching individuals with "too good to be true" job offers.

Kate Jackson, Crimestoppers national manager for Scotland, said: "University is about taking the next step in your adult life and gaining further education, not about being approached by fraudsters to unknowingly partake in criminal activity.

"Crimestoppers is launching this campaign to raise awareness of this fraudulent activity, but also to give students an outlet to pass on information about fraudsters and scams they are aware of, with a guarantee their anonymity will not be compromised."

Campaign bosses also warned that "pleading ignorance is not an acceptable excuse" for those who become involved in of this type of crime.

A booklet, handed out to students, warns: "Not only is it devastating for a student and for their future to be in jeopardy by a money mules scam, as part of their activity for the money launderers they will also have assisted in transferring large sums of money to individuals or groups involved in drug dealing, theft, human trafficking and other types of organised crime of which there could be countless more victims.

"If you think you might already be part of a money mule scam, please act fast and contact your bank and the police."

Crimestoppers has launched a dedicated website – www.dontbeamule.com – where students can find out information about money mules and how to avoid being a victim of the scam.

Anyone with information about a money mule scam is asked to call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or see: www.crimestoppers-uk.org

rebecca.gray@ eveningtimes.co.uk

HOW TO AVOID BECOMING A MONEY 'MULE'

Never give personal details to anyone unless you know and trust them.

Beware of unsolicited e-mails or other communications and make sure any internet links within these communications direct you to a genuine business.

Take steps to check the contact details of any company that makes you an offer. Make sure its telephone number, address, and website are genuine and tat the company is registered in the UK.

Do not be fooled by professional looking websites or e-mails. Many of the mule recruitment websites are created by criminals who are proficient in web design.

Carefully study any job adverts, or e-mails you may receive. Many bogus job advertisements are written in poor English and contain grammatical errors and spelling mistakes.

Be cautious of any opportunities claiming to offer you relatively large sums of money with little or no requirement for specialist skills and previous work experience.