There are many, many ways to make money from identity theft. You can become an identity thief and take your chances in this vast and profitable industry. You can start a security company and make a slightly smaller fortune trying to protect people from thieves (and often from themselves). You could even build a career prosecuting the crime, although it’s probably the least profitable of all. Or you could just become a mule.

One thing we know about cybercriminals is that they’re creative, and the most recent attack on Monster.com’s users shows just how much. Victims of the attack reported receiving spam emails around the same time as the theft came to light, offering thousands of dollars a week working from home for just a few hours a month.

Security experts now believe that much of this spam is actually sent by the thieves in attempt to recruit mules to help them move their recently acquired loot.

Because banks are on the look out for unusual transfers to faraway bank accounts, the thieves are now looking for help in transferring stolen funds into bank accounts nearer to home – in fact, they’re looking for account holders in the very same banks as the victims - account holders who are willing to have money transferred to their accounts, and then pass it on to those faraway accounts without arousing suspicion.

The mules, as they’re known, are offered a cut of the funds they pass on to thieves. And according to some researchers, criminal gangs need to recruit as many as 20,000 mules in order to keep up with the amount of information being pilfered.

So if you ever receive one of these pitches, or any email money-making offer that requires a US bank account as the only experience necessary, don’t be tempted. Because you’ll only be making more money for the thieves, the security industry, and the prosecutors. And your only reward will be a few years confinement in a faraway place a little upstate.