OFFICERS from Devon and Cornwall Police's Hi Tech Crime Unit are warning people not to assist organised crime gangs by unwittingly becoming involved in money laundering activities.

The process starts when people reply to e-mails, which invite them to make their bank accounts available to receive funds purportedly from business deals. The funds are actually the proceeds of "phishing" scams, Internet Auction Frauds and other Internet Scams.

Large sums are then credited to their bank accounts of which they are invited to keep between 5 and 7 % for themselves. They are then asked to withdraw the remainder, divide it into smaller amounts (so as not to trigger Money Laundering alerts) and transfer the money, via Western Union or some other International Money Transfer Organisation, overseas.

Detective Constable John Hodge of the Hi Tech Unit explained, "People are being used as 'Mules' to help fund oganised criminal gangs or even international terrorists by transferring proceeds of crime out of the UK.

"Money laundering is a crime, and it is only a matter of time before someone who has agreed to carry out this sort of activity is prosecuted.

"The penalties for this type of crime are severe, with sentences up to 14 years imprisonment if convicted in a Crown Court.

"There is a clear message here that if something sounds too good to be true, it generally is.

In a recent case, a North Devon Female had £45,000 transferred from her bank account. The money was transferred into the account of another female resident in the North of England.

Once traced, the beneficiary told the Police that she had replied to one of these e-mails and signed a contract stating that she would carry out the instructions detailed above. This was not the only large amount that had passed through her account.

For further information on all types of scam visit the Office of Fair Trading Website at

http://www.oft.gov.uk/Consumer/Scams/default.htm