So professional, in fact, that it's getting likely that regular internet users may be suckered into signing up for a scheme, without realising what they are doing is illegal.
According to security researcher Brian Krebs, after he had a chat with someone who was almost tricked into becoming a money mule, he was introduced to one of the more clever and convincing money mule recruitment websites he has ever encountered.
In his latest Krebs-on-Security blog posting, Krebs describes how, through "the use of images stolen from legitimate websites and well-placed video and interactive content, this bogus work-at-home job site may become a model of mule recruitment scams to come."
Infosecurity notes that the fraudsters have posted a very persuasive video on their site – which Krebs has posted on YouTube – which shows how the fraudsters are getting money mules to buy IT goods with the wired money, and then ship the goods to them.
Using this approach is a variation from expecting the mule to rewire the money on to the fraudsters, which most internet users have realised is more than a little illegal. According to Krebs, the money mule – who he calls 'Jeremy' – ignored instructions to supply his bank account information in preparation for receiving deposits from Lydon Online.
So why did he ignore the request for his bank details? "Because shortly after signing up with Lydon, Jeremy learned that another company which also had hired him for a work-at-home job as a financial agent had tried to send him nearly $10 000 stolen from a Pennsylvania dental practice that was robbed of many times that amount last month", he said.
"You need a valid set of credentials to see some of the more interesting sections of mycareerjob.net, but I can assure you the site's designers sure did a superb job making it look legitimate. Included on nearly every page are pictures of fellow 'employees' - which are just photos lifted from the web", he added.
According to Krebs, amongst his favourite areas of the site is the 'Agent Awards' section, which includes a couple of photos swiped from the Travel Weekly website.
What takes the biscuit, however, he goes on to say, is the interactive 'agent training' video, which he uses a computerised voice and images from The Matrix movie.