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What is Financial Exploitation?

Financial exploitation can happen to any child, from any background. It takes many forms, including exploitation within families and care placements as well as outside the home. A growing concern across the country involves criminals approaching children and young people online through gaming and social media platforms, and in places like shops and cashpoints with offers of quick cash and fake job opportunities, only to use and control their bank accounts to commit fraud and launder money from organised crime. 

Financial exploitation of children

Children are threatened, abused and exposed to huge risk,  with young people often completely unaware of the source of the money or that anything illegal has taken place.  

Children are being targeted and their bank accounts or online wallets are being used to launder money by individuals or criminal groups exposing children and young people to great risk, physically, emotionally and within the criminal justice system.  

Child Financial Exploitation is a form of Child Criminal Exploitation. 

Financial Exploitation is child abuse.  

exploitation

girl sits at home looking at mobile phone

"He threatened me and it all got very scary, quickly"

"He threatened me and it all got very scary, quickly"

Spot the signs

Financial exploitation can take many forms, but this page focusses on the practice of using a child’s bank accounts (or online wallets) to hold, transfer, or hide funds or assets for the purpose of exploitation. 

Exploitation is often hidden in plain sight, but you might notice a child or young person is: 

  • Showing signs of distress or neglect when entering a bank or building society 

  • Visiting a branch far away from the account holder's address 

  • Paying in/withdrawing a large quantity of cash 

  • Being instructed or controlled by another individual or someone is keeping an eye on them from a distance 

  • Receiving frequent messages and calls. They might appear anxious when answering 

  • Paying in small amounts frequently or receiving small amounts frequently 

  • Receiving cash deposits or transfers from unknown sources 

  • Receiving wages to an account they don’t have access to or that other people have access too  

  • Talking about job offers or opportunities for quick cash  

Child exploitation types overlap. When we identify a child is experiencing one form of exploitation, we need to remain curious and consider all the potential risks to a child or young person. 

Exploitation isn't obvious. But it happens everywhere. And you can stop it. Get to know the signs of child exploitation and how to report it through our award-winning #LookCloser campaign with the British Transport Police and National County Lines Coordination Centre. Together we can protect children from this abuse. 

young man standing by sports court in grey hoodie

#LookCloser

Across the country, young people are being manipulated, sexually abused, forced to launder money and deal drugs. Exploitation isn't obvious. But it happens everywhere. And you can stop it. Get to know the signs of child exploitation and how to report it through our award-winning #LookCloser campaign with the British Transport Police and National County Lines Coordination Centre. Together we can protect children from this abuse.

Getting the language right

The term ‘money mule’ is unhelpful because it focuses the conversation entirely on the person’s actions – in this case fraudulent bank activity – and ignores the complexity of the situation and the child’s exploitation while implying consent and agency.  

So, let’s change the narrative… 

Describing children whose bank accounts are used for criminal activity as ‘money mules’, ignores the full reality of their experiences and minimises the control, coercion and abuse they may have experienced. 

Instead we could say: 

  • The child or young person is being financially exploited
  • The child or young person is being coerced to hold or carry money
  • The child or young person has been groomed and recruited by an adult for the purpose of child criminal exploitation
  • The child or young person is trapped in debt bondage and potential poverty through funds being confiscated and accounts shut down
  • Child or young person is experiencing financial harm and abuse 

Find our Appropriate Language Guide here.

boots of young person on swing

What is county lines?

County lines is not a new thing. You may have heard about it on the news or in TV shows like Hollyoaks. But beyond the headlines and scripts, it's a stark reality for many young people. Here we unpack the truth about county lines and how we work to restore the hopes of children being forced to carry drugs across the country.

What can you do?

What can you do?

Ensure you respond to signs of child financial exploitation as a safeguarding concern, recognising it as exploitation and abuse. Always report your concerns and follow your usual safeguarding policy including responding to and reporting financial exploitation as a form of Modern Slavery.   

  • Call 999 if a child is in immediate danger 

  • Always call the police to report exploitation or abuse  

  • Follow your internal safeguarding procedures to report concerns  

  • For further support in recognising and responding to financial exploitation, please see the guidance for professionals published by the Home Office

boy in hoodie speaks to adult man in park

Get in touch

Our Financial Exploitation Lead sits within our Prevention Programme to improve awareness and responses to Financial Exploitation across England and Wales. This role seeks to bridge the gap between local and national understandings of financial exploitation.  

If you would like to learn more about this work, contact us on prevention@childrenssociety.org.uk