What it is
A money-mule scheme uses you and your bank account as a layer between criminals and their stolen money. Funds from other frauds land in your account; you are told to forward them on - by wire, crypto, or to another account - and keep a cut. You become the traceable link, which is exactly the point: the risk is moved to you.
How it reaches you
The job is advertised as a "payment processor," "financial agent," "money transfer specialist," or remote "treasury assistant," often work-from-home with easy pay. It requires your bank account to "process payments," which is the real ask. Recruitment frequently runs through chat apps and skips a real interview.
The tell
Any job whose actual duty is receiving money into your account and sending it elsewhere. Legitimate employers do not run their finances through a new hire's personal bank account.
What to do
Do not accept, and never hand over your bank details for a role like this - see should I give my bank account for a job?. If you have already moved money for someone, stop, contact your bank, and report to the FTC and the FBI's IC3. The package-handling cousin of this scam is the reshipping scam.