By
Hazel Speed
The latest illegal initiative imposing itself on the young is being referred to by naming the facilitators (unwitting or otherwise), as ‘money mules’.
Apparently, children as young as 13 are approached either outside their school gates, or online, to deposit monies belonging to third or more parties, into a child’s bank or savings account in lieu of being given a small fee after the money has been laundered and is taken out again ‘clean’.
A few things astound me about this story – what kind of bank accounts can children have at 13?
When most older generations were that age, this kind of thing would be questioned and discussed with parents and the police. So why are children today not also questioning any of this – leaving aside the fact that some may know only too well this is criminal activity, yet they are happy to oblige. Are the remaining teenagers inept?
If they get caught regarding their involvement within this criminal activity, even though they are young, they will then have some type of record, and Social Services may take them into care, who knows.
What are the parents doing that they seem unaware of all this – it could include them also in due course, with larger amounts of money involved.
Blackmail may result at some stage if a family is threatened to continue with laundering activities.
Young children may get a feel for negotiations with the criminals for a higher percentage of the monies being laundered, and worst scenario may be threats on their lives or family members.
It is an introduction to crime via the simplest of methods.
We were led to believe there is CCTV security around the outside of school grounds, so how are strangers managing to approach students with such offers – and that may not be all that is available.
Families used to look out for each other – the internet, and various forms of social media, may be out of the jurisdiction of legal authorities in many areas still – but surely there is a lack of supervision and self-monitoring by the children themselves if they are willing ‘money mules’.
Values, moral thought and deed, honour, respect and always ‘doing the right thing’ – these are words and terms from a former age it would seem.
The internet has not advanced society after all, has it, rather it unlocks the metaphorical school gates, and pollutes the students therein one way or another, despite huge medical and diverse advances it facilitates on the other side of the same coin.
Thankfully not all children are so tainted by crime, scams, drugs (or worse) – but at times, the sensible ones seem to be in the minority.
Hazel Speed
Photo (c) Hazel Speed – used by kind permision to Tuck Magazine
Hazel Speed is a Philosopher, Writer, and Artist with various creative projects at differing stages of development. Her flaship project is an animation which has produced a film short: www.thepinkprofessor.com. She has also written an E-novel, ‘Just Suppose…!‘ which is available via the attached link.
Art sites: www.candystoreart.com, www.terrificart.com, www.artbadges.co.uk
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