Behind the scenes of financial crime: exploring awareness of money muling in the cypriot context

Alexios Kythreotis, Kyriakos Christofi, Petros Petrou and Milad Soltani

Journal of Money Laundering Control, 2026, vol. 29, issue 1, 73-90

Abstract: PurposeThis study aims to identify the key factors that influence public awareness of money muling among digitally active adults in Cyprus. Given Cyprus’s strategic geopolitical position, the ongoing occupation of part of its territory, and its proximity to regions affected by political instability and transnational crime, the country faces heightened exposure to financial offences. These vulnerabilities, compounded by institutional limitations, highlight the need to understand how the public perceives and responds to money muling schemes. By identifying the factors that shape awareness, this research seeks to inform more effective prevention strategies and support policy responses tailored to the Cypriot context.Design/methodology/approachThis study adopts a quantitative research design. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire comprising closed-ended questions. Exploratory factor analysis was employed to identify the main factors influencing money mule awareness, followed by multiple regression analysis to examine their causal effect.FindingsThe study shows that Cypriots have a relatively low awareness of money mules, indicating a basic understanding but also substantial room for improvement. Key factors influencing awareness include cybersecurity and financial crime awareness, digital financial literacy and financial fraud awareness. These insights are valuable for policymakers, law enforcement authorities, financial institutions, educators and public awareness campaigns, as they support the design of targeted interventions and the strengthening of efforts against financial crimes.Originality/valueThis study contributes to an underdeveloped body of literature, as research on money muling remains limited globally and particularly scarce in the Cypriot context. In addition to assessing public awareness, the study situates its findings within Cyprus’s broader geopolitical, economic and institutional environment, which the literature identifies as relevant to understanding financial crime risks. The study provides contextually informed empirical evidence that may support future policy discussions, preventive initiatives, and comparative research.

Keywords: Money muling awareness; Financial crime prevention; Anti-money laundering (AML); Cyber-enabled financial fraud; Geopolitical risk and financial crime (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.emerald.com/jmlc/article/29/1/73/13374 ... cial-crime-exploring (text/html)
https://www.emerald.com/jmlc/article-pdf/29/1/73/1 ... c-07-2025-0135en.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eme:jmlcpp:jmlc-07-2025-0135

DOI: 10.1108/JMLC-07-2025-0135

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Money Laundering Control is currently edited by Dr Paul Gilmour

More articles in Journal of Money Laundering Control from Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Emerald Support ().