This post has been previously published by The Irish Independent.

Employees at three major financial institutions are under investigation over suspected links to crime gangs involved in cyber frauds and money laundering.

The three young adults — a woman and two men — separately came to the attention of gardaí investigating the rising phenomenon of online frauds and scams. The three are unconnected, but all have third-level qualifications and are currently working as junior employees in three different financial institutions, say sources close to the investigation.

One of the three came to the attention of gardaí as a suspected ‘money mule’ — someone who allows criminals to use their bank account to store money for cash.

A second bank employee came on the garda radar during an investigation into an invoice redirect fraud — a scam in which businesses are tricked into transferring funds into bank accounts controlled by criminals.

A third remains under investigation for suspicious activity.

All three would have access to sensitive customer data, but garda sources say it is not known whether any confidential information was actually shared.

The Garda National Economic Crime Bureau (GNECB) suspects the cases follow an emerging pattern in economic crime — in which well-educated young people, with no criminal records, are being targeted or deliberately “planted” in jobs that give them access to confidential customer data.

This data can then be either exploited or sold on the black market to facilitate online frauds.