Criminal organisations have been using social media platforms, chat applications and going on-campus to recruit money mules to shift the proceeds of crime.
Syndicates are offering several hundred dollars - sometimes with additional commission - to use bank accounts, and personal data to open fraudulent accounts in victims' names, according to the Australian Federal Police.
The accounts are then used to make it harder for banks and authorities to track laundered money or scam proceeds as they bounce between accounts in varied quantities.
Students and the unemployed made up roughly a third of scam and fraud fund recipients between September 2025 and March 2026, ANZ bank data shows.
Students were targeted in multiple ways, often without realising it, Griffith University scam expert Associate Professor Jacqueline Drew said.
"This can range from fake job offers to investment scams that promise high returns," Prof Drew said.
"Cybercriminals can be highly organised, patient, and skilled at building trust."
The funds often made their way overseas, or were transferred into crypto currency, foreign currency or even gold bullion.
Criminal groups were becoming more nimble as technology and regulations tightened around illegal funds transfer, ANZ scams expert Marc Broome said.
"Mules have existed for as long as I can recall, criminal syndicates have always used third parties to facilitate the movement of funds," he told AAP.
"We've made it a little bit harder for them to infiltrate and to move money, but now they're using multiple mules to make it a little bit harder for the banks once they've received a report to actually be able to recover that money and stop it from leaving the country."
ANZ has identified 4000 "high risk" accounts in the six months to March.
While some mules likely had some idea of what they were doing, others could be naive to what was going on, Mr Broome said.
Both could end up in court.
"State law enforcement are actually going and knocking on doors of people who have received proceeds of crime and proceeds of scams, and actually holding those people to account," Mr Broome said..
A NSW Financial crimes taskforce last week said it had charged mules, facilitators, and financial professionals linked to an alleged criminal network.
The strike force alleged stolen personal information was used to apply for loans through various financial companies to purchase luxury "ghost cars" that did not exist.
At least 25 people have been arrested in relation to the syndicate, with the NSW Crime Commission restraining $95 million in assets.
"So when you're seeing those job ads coming up with flexibility, really good salary for very little work, they're things they should look out for," Mr Broome said.
"If it seems to good to be true, it probably isn't real."
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