Financial firms closed 238,396 accounts belonging to suspected money mules during 2025, according to research published by the Financial Conduct Authority on 23 September.
That was higher than the 233,269 closures reported for 2024 and 184,935 for 2023.
Money mules allow criminals to receive or transfer money through their accounts. Some people are knowingly involved, while others are recruited through fake job offers, social-media messages or promises of quick cash.
What the FCA found
The regulator surveyed 35 retail banks, building societies, challenger banks, payment institutions and electronic-money institutions.
Customers aged 26 to 39 accounted for the largest number of closures, at 91,073. Another 85,425 involved customers aged 25 or younger.
The fastest increase occurred among customers aged 40 to 49. Closures in this group rose from 25,760 in 2024 to 37,274 in 2025.
The FCA also found that criminals commonly moved fraudulent money through several accounts before withdrawing or spending it. Cashing out usually occurred between the second and fifth account in the chain.
Some accounts had reportedly been used repeatedly for suspected mule activity before being closed.
Why this matters
Money-mule networks help criminals obscure the origin and destination of stolen funds. The National Crime Agency estimates that more than £100 billion is laundered through the UK or UK corporate structures each year, although that figure covers financial crime more broadly and should not be attributed solely to money mules.
For customers, becoming involved can result in loss of banking access and possible prosecution. A request to receive or transfer money through a personal account should be treated as a serious warning sign, even when presented as employment.
The Apolifina view
The rise in closures does not necessarily prove that money-mule activity itself increased at the same rate.
The FCA says higher totals could reflect growth in customer numbers and improvements in firms' ability to detect and close suspect accounts. The data measure action taken by firms, not the full scale of undetected activity.
The finding that funds frequently travel through several accounts also suggests that closing individual accounts is only part of the response. Faster intelligence sharing between banks, payment firms, technology companies and law enforcement may be equally important.
Warning signs
The FCA says consumers should be suspicious of unsolicited offers of quick money. A legitimate employer will not ask someone to use a personal bank account to transfer company funds.
People should not share banking details with anyone they do not know and trust.
Uncertainty
The findings come from an FCA survey of 35 firms and do not represent every UK financial institution.
The account totals concern suspected money mules. They are not a count of criminal convictions, and an increase in closures does not by itself establish an equivalent increase in underlying crime.
Primary sources and verification
- FCA: Firms crack down on money mules but need to do more
- FCA: Money mules, activity and cashing-out findings
The closure totals, age groups, survey coverage and cash-out findings were checked against the FCA press release and multi-firm review published on 23 September 2026.
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