What motivates individuals involved in money muling, and who is most at risk for becoming a money mule?
Background
Understanding the drivers and pathways into criminal activity, as well as the perceptions,
motivations and decision-making of criminals is essential to formulating the necessary
prevention and enforcement strategies. It is also important to understand how different types
of criminality intersect and enable each other as part of understanding the wider criminal
ecosystem. This can help to determine how disrupting one form of offending behaviour can
impact other forms of criminality. Below sets out the key gaps in our understanding of
offender pathways and behaviours
Next steps
Get in touch with NECC-IF-Research@nca.gov.uk EconomicCrimeResearch@homeoffice.gov.uk
Source
This question was published as part of the set of ARIs in this document:
Economic Crime Areas of Research Interest ARI report July 2025 1
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Related UKRI funded projects
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Strategic Hub for Organised Crime Research
In December 2014, RUSI launched a Strategic Hub for Organised Crime Research to develop a world class research agenda that meets the needs of policymakers. With the support of government agencies and Research Councils UK...
Funded by: ESRC
Why might this be relevant?
The project focuses on understanding the drivers and pathways into criminal activity, including motivations and decision-making of criminals, which directly relates to the question.
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The (Mis)Use of Corporate Vehicles by Transnational Organised Crime Groups in the Concealment, Conversion and Control of Illicit Finance
Transnational organised crime groups and the difficulties in intervening with illicit finances have been identified as a high-priority concern by the UK government (see Serious and Organised Crime Strategy (SOCS) (2013))...
Funded by: ESRC
Why might this be relevant?
The project specifically addresses the misuse of corporate vehicles by transnational organised crime groups, which is relevant to understanding the motivations and behaviors of criminals involved in money muling.