What is Money Laundering and How can it be Prevented?

Something that motivates most crimes is of course the ability to make money. Because the ways that criminals obtain money are illegal, they are therefore traceable and this means that police will easily be able to catch them, so they need a way of cleaning this dirty money – which is where the term money laundering comes from.

Money laundering is not a new thing, but because the internet has enabled people to not only communicate all around the world but also to do things like open bank accounts, this has led to criminals finding new ways to use the internet in order to launder their money.

There are processes in place in order to make it much more difficult for criminals to do this – the government requires banks to put processes into place like this AML ID Verification by W2 Global Data so that it is harder to set up bank accounts in false names or on behalf of criminal organisations or terrorist groups.

By doing this, it makes it harder for criminals to operate and therefore means that it is easier for crime agencies around the world to catch them, and it also reduces the risks of criminal activities in general.

Despite this, money laundering in the UK alone costs billions a year, and it is very clear that more needs to be done in order to crack down on the criminals who are committing these crimes and breaking the law.