YEREVAN, August 17. /ARKA/. Recently, there has been an increase in cases of criminals luring citizens into suspicious financial transactions using their bank accounts or cryptocurrency accounts, as well as e-wallets or cards to transfer criminally obtained funds, in order to conceal their true origin and beneficiaries, according to a statement from the Central Bank of Armenia’s press service.
Individuals involved in such transactions as intermediaries are often referred to as “dummy intermediaries.”
Anyone can become a “dummy intermediary,” sometimes without even realizing they are engaging in criminal activity. Criminals often find potential intermediaries through social media, messages, job postings, or online dating platforms, promising easy and quick income without work experience or professional qualifications. The most common offers include:
• receiving funds into your own accounts, cards, or e-wallets,
• transferring the received funds to others or cashing them out,
• providing third parties with access details to your own accounts, cards, or e-wallets.
“It is important to remember that providing others with access to your bank card, accounts, or e-wallets, or transferring other people’s funds through them, may expose you to money laundering or other criminal activity. Such actions may have legal consequences even if you have not received compensation for them or do not fully understand the true purpose of the scheme,” the regulator warns.
How to protect yourself:
• Do not accept such offers that require you to use your accounts, e-wallets, or cards.
• Do not receive, transfer, or cash out funds belonging to others.
• Never provide others with your card details, account logins and passwords, one-time verification codes, or remote access.
• If you receive such an offer, be vigilant and refuse it.
“Remember: your accounts and financial instruments are intended solely for your personal use. Providing them or using them by others may unwittingly make you a participant in a criminal scheme,” the Central Bank of Armenia emphasized.-0-
