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NEOVERA SECURITY TIP

Scammers Are Using Real Customers to Send Money to Mule Accounts. Are Your Controls Catching It?

Financial institutions are seeing rapid increases in APP (Authorized Push Payment) fraud, where customers - coached by scammers - send funds directly into mule accounts. Because the customer authenticates from their own device, traditional ATO (Account Takeover) controls never fire.

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Fraud Red Team Mule-Control Diagnostic

A deeper assessment used during live Fraud Red Team engagements to identify mule-transfer vulnerabilities.

Modern mule networks exploit gaps in first-time beneficiary (FTB) flows, cross payment rail inconsistencies, weak confirmation layers, and delayed Fraud Ops escalation. These weaknesses allow scammers, often coaching victims in real time, to pass through otherwise “good” controls. 

This diagnostic outlines the 10 high-impact failure points we test during Mule Red Team engagements and how banks can evaluate their readiness.

FTB Controls & Customer Friction

  • ✓
    1. FTB Friction & Payment Risk
    • Do large FTB payments trigger friction, delay, or review?
    • Are high-value FTB payments treated differently from low-value ones?
    • Are there velocity caps for new beneficiaries in the first 24–72 hours?
    • Can multiple FTB payments be executed in a short window?
  • ✓
    1. Payment-Rail Consistency
    • Are wires, ACH pushes, and RTP screened with equal rigor?
    • Do any rails represent a gap (weaker confirmation or friction)?
  • ✓
    1. Confirmation Flow Strength
    • Are liability warnings explicit, unskippable, and payment rail-specific?
    • Are “Are you speaking to anyone right now?” prompts presented before authorization?

Human-Centered Scam Disruption

  • ✓
    1. Behavioral Coaching Detection
    • Do behavioral biometrics detect coached or abnormal patterns?
    • Do pauses, repeated edits, or signs of hesitation increase scrutiny?
  • ✓
    1. Scam Pattern Identification
    • Is there a model for urgency/pressure language or guided messaging?
    • Are customers who recently contacted support treated as higher-risk?
  • ✓
    1. Callback Protocol Strength
    • Are callbacks conducted via a separate authenticated channel?
    • Do staff use scripts shown to interrupt active coaching?

Device & Session Intelligence

  • ✓
    1. Device/Location Integrity
    • Are abrupt device or geolocation changes flagged for FTB payments?
    • Are these anomalies routed to near-real-time review?
  • ✓
    1. Session Risk Indicators
    • Can the system detect erratic navigation, time-outs, or coached behavior during setup?

Mule Intelligence & Screening Coverage

  • ✓
    1. Blacklist Coverage
    • Are outbound wires, ACH, RTP, and digital wallet flows screened?
    • Is the blacklist updated weekly from external intelligence networks?
    • Do you use both domestic and international mule indicators?
  • ✓
    1. Scam-Baiting Intel Integration
    • Are results from external investigations automatically ingested?
    • Do you incorporate cluster intelligence — hubs, corridors, repeat beneficiaries?

How Neovera Fraud Red Team Tests Your Controls

Our Fraud Red Team runs live, controlled simulations that replicate exactly how scammers move money through your institution. These tests use real accounts, real mule patterns, and real transaction flows—so you see your controls the way fraudsters do.

Our simulations expose the exact points where scammers succeed today.

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1. First-Time Beneficiary Testing

We initiate high-risk first-time payments to evaluate whether your system introduces friction, delay, step-up authentication, or manual review.

We measure how easy it is for a customer-initiated mule payment to pass through undetected.

2. Mule Blacklist & Intelligence Testing

We test your systems against verified mule accounts sourced from scam-baiting operations and fraud intelligence networks.

Our goal: determine whether outbound wires, ACH pushes, or RTP payments are screened before release.

3. APP Fraud Simulation (Customer-In-Session Fraud)

We simulate scenarios where a real customer, on their own device, approves a high-risk payment.

This reveals whether your institution can detect coaching, manipulated behavior, and abnormal payment flows.

4. Alert, Messaging & Liability Testing

We evaluate whether your outbound alerts are:

  • Clear
  • Early
  • Persuasive enough to interrupt the scam
    We also check whether liability warnings are presented before funds leave the institution.

5. Full End-to-End Payment Path Testing

We test across wires, ACH, RTP, and digital wallet rails to measure:

  • Detection speed
  • Whether alerts reach fraud teams
  • Whether payments are held or released
  • How your controls respond to real-world mule behavior

Why This Matters

APP fraud is rising because it bypasses traditional defenses.

Your customers authenticate.Your systems approve.The money is gone.

Neovera Fraud Red Team helps you see - and fix - those blind spots before fraudsters exploit them.

Want to Strengthen Your Controls?

If you'd like a walkthrough of how we test for mule account risk or want to schedule an FRT assessment: