The B.C. Securities Commission says it has identified 116 suspected money mules connected to investment fraud investigations as authorities target the local financial networks used to move victims’ money.

Since May 2024, the securities regulator has worked with the RCMP to identify people whose bank accounts or cryptocurrency wallets allegedly received or transferred proceeds linked to investment scams. Warning letters have been delivered to 40 individuals as part of the initiative.

Investigators have also conducted “knock and talk” visits at the homes of suspected money mules. In one case, a Richmond resident reportedly told investigators that someone he met during a poker game asked him to receive money in his bank account, withdraw it as cash and hand it to another person in exchange for several hundred dollars.

The BCSC says some money mules may not initially realize they are helping move proceeds of fraud, while others may knowingly participate. Authorities hope the warnings will disrupt overseas investment fraud operations by making it harder for scammers to use Canadian bank accounts to receive and transfer victims’ funds.

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Originally published on Canadian Fraud News.