The student who was told to keep ten per cent and ask nothing.
A composite. This case is assembled from how this pattern is repeatedly reported to us and documented publicly — it is not the file of one identifiable person, and no detail here should be read as belonging to a real individual.
What happened
A first-year international student was approached in a housing group chat by someone who described himself as an agent for families sending tuition money. Because his account was new and “clean”, he could receive the transfers and pass them to the agent’s local partner, keeping ten per cent. He asked once whether it was legal and was told that questioning it would look suspicious to the bank. Four months later his account was closed, he could not pay his accommodation, and he had to disclose the matter when it was raised with him.
Step by step
- Week 2
Approach in a student housing group chat. The recruiter is himself a student — recruited three months earlier.
- Week 3
The framing: “tuition transfers for families”. Plausible, common, and entirely unverifiable.
- Week 4
First transfer of $6,200. He keeps $620. It feels like a service, not a crime.
- Weeks 5–17
Twenty-two transfers. He is told to describe them to the bank as gifts from family if asked.
- Week 18
Account closed. No access to the balance. Accommodation payment fails.
- Week 19
He learns the funds came from compromised accounts, and that being asked to lie to the bank was the clearest signal he had.
How to avoid being the mule
- A new account with no history is exactly what a recruiter wants. Being told your account is “clean” is not a compliment.
- If you are coached on what to tell your bank, stop there. That single instruction is worth more than any other warning sign.
- Ten per cent of someone else’s money is not income. It is the price offered for your name on the transaction.
- Talk to the university’s student support or a free service like IDCARE before you talk to the person who recruited you. They are the only two who gain nothing from your answer.
What this pattern usually looks like
Students are recruited as mules more than any other group in Australia, for three reasons criminals understand well: a new local bank account with no history, a genuine need for money, and a visa that makes any official-sounding threat land hard. The approach comes through campus noticeboards, student housing group chats, WeChat and Telegram study groups, or a classmate who was recruited first and is now paid to recruit others. The framing is always small — help a company receive a payment, let a friend’s money land in your account because theirs is “under review”, earn a few hundred dollars between classes. The consequence is not small. A frozen account can end your ability to pay rent or fees, and a money-laundering matter is exactly the kind of thing that reaches a visa file.
Where to report it in Australia.
- Your bank’s scam page
Every major Australian bank runs a 24/7 fraud line. The number on the back of your card is the fastest route.
- Crime Stoppers — Don’t Be A Mule
The national campaign on money muling, including how to report anonymously.
- Scamwatch (National Anti-Scam Centre)
The national report. It feeds the disruption work — even if you lost nothing, the report helps.
- IDCARE1800 595 160
Free national identity and cyber support. A real person builds you a response plan. Not a government agency, not a debt collector, not paid.
- Australian Federal Police
Investigates money laundering. Dealing with proceeds of crime is an offence even when you didn’t know — which is exactly why you stop now.