騾子這種動物，在影視劇里出現通常都是馱著一堆貨物跟著主人趕路的形象。大概是因為經常充當運輸工具的緣故吧，到了網絡時代，很多新生的說法都包含mule這個詞。當然，有一些代表的意思是負面的。比如，我們今天要說的money mule（錢騾）。

A money mule is a person who transfers money and reships high value goods that have been fraudulently obtained in one country, usually via the Internet, to another country, usually where the perpetrator of the fraud lives. The term money mule is formed by analogy with drug mules.

錢騾指通過因特網將用詐騙等不正當手段從一國得來的錢款和高價值貨物轉移到另一國的人，款物接收國通常是詐騙份子的居住地。Money mule這個說法是在drug mule（藥騾）的基礎上衍生出來的。

The need for money mules arises because while a criminal in a developing country can obtain the credit card numbers, bank account numbers, passwords and other financial details of a victim living in the first world via the Internet through techniques such as malware and phishing, turning those details into money usable in the criminal's own country can be difficult. Many businesses will refuse to transfer money or ship goods to certain countries where there is a high likelihood that the transaction is fraudulent. The criminal therefore recruits a money mule in the victim's country who will receive money transfers and merchandise and resend them to the criminal in return for a commission.

錢騾的需求量上升是因為身處發展中國家的犯罪份子可以通過惡意軟件和網絡釣魚獲取居住在第一世界國家人的信用卡帳號、銀行帳號、密碼以及其他金融信息，但是要想把這些竊取到的信息變成犯罪分子所在國可用的錢款卻很困難。很多商業網點都會拒絕將款物轉移到詐騙交易高發的一些國家。因此，犯罪分子就在竊取金融信息的目標國招募一個錢騾，讓其在當地接收款物轉移然后再將款物轉到犯罪分子手上，轉移成功后錢騾會得到一筆傭金。

相關閱讀

數字游民 digital nomad

游戲“工人” playbourer

短信詐騙 smishing

網絡釣魚 phishing

僵尸電腦 zombie computer

（英語點津 Helen 編輯）

點擊查看更多英語習語和新詞