Young people lured by promise of easy cash, no trouble with police

Scam syndicates have lured young people to become money mules with the promise of easy cash, and also by telling them they will not get into trouble with the law.

- Christine Tan

Mr Narasimman Tivasiha Mani, co-founder of Impart, a non-profit organisation for youth at risk, said most of the young money mules he has counselled come from families with precarious backgrounds.

These include growing up in poverty or coming from a broken family, said Mr Narasimman, who counselled Zack, Irfan and Kezrin (not their real names), among others.

HUG Community Services founder Jeffrey Mak, who has over 10 years' experience working with at-risk youth, said he has also encountered money mules who come from well-to-do families. "They still did all these things because they were seeking attention; (they felt) nobody cared about them."

Care Singapore director Lena Teo, who has counselled young people involved in money mule offences, said that unlike other illegal activities such as being a loan shark runner, young people think they are not harming anyone by being a money mule.

"To them, it is so straightforward. I am not robbing, punching, carrying weapons, how would you say this is a crime?" she said.