Credit Muling

A sketchy dude from the dorm room down the hall keeps asking if you have perfect credit. Always a great icebreaker. And he wants to pitch you an idea to make a lot of money fast.

He asks if he can use your credit card to buy a few products. And, in exchange, he’ll give you a lump of cash. By using your personal information and credit, he'll gain access to certain items that might be sold at a discount, or as a "secret shopper" program.

This is known as credit muling.

It won’t end well for you.

A common scam is that someone asks a person to purchase iPhones from a carrier like AT&T. Given that the phone might be free or Buy One Get One free, the credit mule will buy two phones and sign up for a monthly contract.

The mule will turn the phone over to the criminal, who can sell it on the black market for a handsome sum. The credit mule, who has bought the phones, doesn’t realize that she will be on the hook for termination fees and the phone contract. In addition, because she no longer has the phone, she is unable to return them, and might have to pay for the gadgets as well.

So...stay away from Steve in Room 407. That guy is running a scam.