FCA review highlights evolving mule activity and cash-out patterns, with 238,396 suspected mule accounts closed in 2025, up 28.9% from 2023, with 47.1% closed within their first year

Money-mule activity remains a major focus for the FCA, with new figures showing just how extensively financial firms are now identifying and closing accounts suspected of being used to move criminal funds. Firms closed 238,396 suspected mule accounts in 2025, compared with 184,935 in 2023 and 233,269 in 2024. The FCA’s review found that criminals are increasingly moving money rapidly through chains of accounts before cashing out, with card…