Dh involved in potential scam?!

[Mamaka]

After a suspicious call from my sil yesterday I did some snooping on my h's phone and found screenshots of a transfer of $5000 between 'solenco' and 'ynj corp' and my h. He then forwarded the money to 2 individuals. I have asked him about it and he said his sis asked him as a favour and he didn't ask for more info! Am I being overly suspicious or does this have scam written all over it?
I can't believe he could be so stupid as to hand out his bank details to people he doesn't know. His sis and mum have notoriously poor financial judgment and are always trying to involve my h. He usually doesn't tell me about it unless it backfires.
Feeling very suspicious and wary and a bit sick. What is the worst that could happen in this situation?

[AnchorDownDeepBreath]

Is he money laundering?

There are a few scams that involve this type of thing - usually it's either laundering money for a share of the dodgy money or the scammers give you the money to transfer but the method they gave you the money from is invalid (such as a stolen card, hacked bank account etc) and the money you received is taken back when the bank realises, so you're down however much you transferred.

That's the most likely consequence, that your DH loses $5000 dollars. The banks are also pretty hot on closing the accounts of anyone involved in this type of thing. They'll report this centrally so that can make it very hard to get another bank account.

In the interests of self preservation; I'd be finding out as much as possible about how his sister knows these people and what the money was for, and going to the bank. They are likely to be much more helpful at this point then in if that money disappears or they close your accounts for money laundering.

[Cleo22]

Scam

[lamiashiro]

Sounds like this scam to me:

www.theguardian.com/money/2012/jul/07/strange-bank-account-money-mule

[Mamaka]

Oh god I feel sick. How could he be so stupid!
So I should get him to go to his bank and tell them what's happened?
As far as I can see one of the names is a shipment company from S Korea.

[Mamaka]

His sister has told him they're friends.

[StillDrSethHazlittMD]

Your DH and his sis are idiots, quite honestly.

[Mamaka]

Well I know that, Dr Seth. Try adding something useful.

[MrsSteptoe]

Gosh, no real help but , OP - I guess flowers are the equivalent of a sort of Facebook "Sympathy Like"...

[StillDrSethHazlittMD]

I'm not sure there is anything helpful to say! He's behaved completely foolishly and in your shoes I'd be fucking furious and I'd be asking some serious questions. Because if he's been this stupid before, just to do something so obviously dodgy because his sister asked, who he knows is financially irresponsible (at best) he may well have done it before.

Has he used his own personal money or is this joint money? Because if it's the latter and he did this without consulting you, that makes it even worse. I'd be wondering how else he treats your finances and I wouldn't trust him. Honestly, I think it's that serious.

[Mamaka]

Thank you. My anxiety is sky high right now. He is saying he will deal with it. At what point would he know what he is dealing with exactly?

[StillDrSethHazlittMD]

So he kept you in the dark about it in the first place and is now keeping you in the dark with how he is dealing with it. Sorry, I think that sounds even more dodgy and I wouldn't be accepting that situation.

Was it HIS money or YOUR (ie joint) money?

[titchy]

He should report this to the police NOW. Otherwise they'll may well regard him as being part of it. Money laundering carries a custodial sentence

[MrsSteptoe]

OP, is your husband quite naive? It's a genuine question. I am the most gullible person in the world so I just wonder if he didn't particularly think "laundering". Obviously he didn't think scam, or presumably even he wouldn't have done it. If he is canny enough to have suspected or known it was laundering and did it anyway, that would be a real problem for me.

[Mamaka]

I know it's serious and I am furious. It's his own personal account. He first received $5000 then paid out £2700 or around that., maybe slightly more. He hasn't done anything like this before that I know of but has always paid for his sister's things with his credit card and she pays him back in cash, often several weeks later etc.

[Summerlovinf]

I'd probably phone the bank and/or police in this situation.

[StillDrSethHazlittMD]

Well that at least is something as if it is dodgy and his bank account gets shut down you may emerge unscathed.

Titchy is absolutely right, though, this is immediate contact with the bank and potentially, the police.

At best, he is ridiculously naive.
Middle ground, he is as financially irresponsible as his family.
At worst, he knew full well and is engaging in criminal activity.

I suspect it's either of the first two options but I'd be insisting that you are involved in the "clearing up" (ie, speaking to both bank and police) to protect yourself, let alone him.

Sadly, this is going to result in huge fallout between the family I suspect. Because your SIL is going to have some questions to answer too.

I would also be insisting that YOU take over any joint finances in future, even though this was his personal money.

[Summerlovinf]

www.actionfraud.police.uk/ Might be a good place to start if you are in England.

[MrsSteptoe]

And if I understand correctly, he's still in possession of the $5000 (thus meaning that it's still unclear if he's laundered money, or if he's been scammed)

It does sound like you do need to get him to go to the bank (they'll involve the police anyway, I should imagine). The problem is that if he's been scammed, it still looks as though he got scammed because of his willingness to be involved in money laundering. The fact that you are still in possession of the $5000 in a way makes it worse. So it seems to me that there just isn't a good outcome here if your DH doesn't make it clear that he's got himself involved in something he didn't see the implications of.

[Mamaka]

I have never considered him naive but his sis and mum are naive to the extreme and I would say vulnerable. His mum has lost quite a bit of money to scams. Unfortunately he is blind where they are involved and will do anything they ask of him. He is also being assessed for AS although that is very recent and possibly nothing will come of it.
If he reported to bank/police and it turned out they were genuinely his sister's friends what would happen?

[Mamaka]

He has paid out most of the $5000.

[shoeaddict83]

does his sister have alot of friends in South Korea?

[firesidechat]

It's not going to be genuine though is it? There is no reason to legitimately send money to the private account of someone you don't know and get them to transfer money out again. It can only be criminal.

[StillDrSethHazlittMD]

If he does anything they ask of him, he needs to grow a pair. YOU are his family first and foremost. I think you need to start laying down the law.

If they were his sister's friends, all would be well. But the likelihood that they are is tiny.

[Mamaka]

His sister has a business and deals with a couple of African countries and the names are African. The shipment company is south korean.

[MrsSteptoe]

Sorry, I didn't ask the right question. What I should have asked was - has the $5000 that was placed into his account been reclaimed by the bank, thus leaving him out of pocket? (In which case it's clear he got scammed, tho he still may have to answer for his apparent willingness to be involved in money laundering)

They may well be his sister's friends but that doesn't mean that they aren't money launderers (I know I just stated the obvious, sorry)

I imagine if it turns out that everything could be given a good explanation by his sister's friends, there would be no action to be taken, but money laundering is such a big issue now that I imagine they would all be investigated down to the last cent before being given an all clear.

(I can't imagine why any company would have a legitimate need to ask a private individual to clear money through a personal account, but I know nothing about import/export or running companies, so shouldn't really comment on that.)