Money 'mules' don't always know they are laundering money

Money laundering is a three-step process: placement, layering, and integration

"Placement" occurs when dirty money is introduced into the financial system. Then "layering" happens when the money is moved around to disguise where it actually came from. Finally, the money is placed in other assets or investments in a step called integration.

Purchasing art is a common money laundering technique

Art is easy to transport internationally, susceptible to price inflation, and usually paid for with cash, making it a frequently used money laundering tactic. Additionally, loose regulations surrounding art transactions allow buyers to remain anonymous, adding an additional layer of ease for people trying to launder money.

Financial institutions use 'Know Your Client' standards to prevent money laundering

KYC standards include verifying customers' identities and conducting regular account checks for high-risk clients to avoid money laundering schemes. These standards obligate banks to report suspicious customers and activity.

Meet a government agent who laundered millions of dollars for Pablo Escobar

Robert Mazur went undercover for years inside the Medellín cartel, which was sending more than 15 tons of cocaine into the United States every single day. Mazur created more than 30 jewelry stores to create business fronts before he finally got through to the cartel.

There's a myth that Al Capone coined the term 'money laundering'

Al Capone owned multiple dry cleaning businesses in Chicago that were believed to be a front for his extensive bootlegging empire, but that's most likely not where the term "money laundering" actually came from. The word didn't appear in popular lexicon until the 1970s, and there aren't recorded references to Al Capone as a money launderer until much later.

What is the function of money?

Nearly everyone uses some form of money to facilitate day-to-day activities, but what is it, anyways? Economists define money as anything that can be accepted as final payment for goods and services. Shells, beads, corn, and a wide range of objects have acted as money throughout history—explore the common but deceptively abstract concept of money in this eight-minute podcast from the Federal Reserve.

Many investment bankers work on mergers and acquisitions

At some point in their careers, many investment bankers work on facilitating or advising clients on mergers or acquisitions. From analyzing industry group trends to deal negotiations, an M&A in investment banking explainer outlines how investment bankers handle these business transactions.

As of 2025, an estimated $3.2B in annual revenue flows through dark web platforms

The untraceable cryptocurrency Monero is used in about 60% of transactions across more than 37 active marketplaces that sell copyrighted materials, private information, and phishing kits—tools that help bad actors more easily create fake sites to steal users' data—for financial fraud.

The scam factories behind prolific scamming

Scammers are on the rise, and many of those behind them are trapped in so-called scam factories—shadowy organizations tricking honest workers into fraudulent employment.

Mortgages are loans used to buy property

A mortgage is a loan used to buy property, like a house. Borrowers typically put down a percentage of the cost of the home, and the amount left over is financed through a lender, like a bank.

The marvels of mucus

Mucus—otherwise known as snot or phlegm—has a gross reputation, but the substance is actually of vital importance, lining the moist surfaces of our nose, intestines, lungs, and more. It plays a constant role in keeping our tissues from drying out and acts as a line of defense, but if it gets too sticky or thick, it can cause problems. Read about the marvels of mucus here.

In 1882, American Express began offering money orders to compete with the US Postal Service

Money orders were American Express' first move into financial services. USPS launched its money order service in 1864 as a way for Civil War soldiers to send money back home. Between the 1880s and 1920s, immigration into the United States surged;the American Express money order service gave immigrants a way to send money to family members living in other countries.

Different types of malware are categorized by how they spread or operate

Computer viruses require user interaction to execute a file and spread, whereas worms can self-replicate across systems without human intervention. Ransomware locks systems until a key is provided, spyware tracks and reports user activity to a third party, and trojans disguise various types of malware as legitimate software.

Thomas and Anne Rogers were famous counterfeiters in 17th-century England

The pair used a practice called “coin clipping,” shaving the edges off silver coins to decrease their weight before sending them back into circulation. When banknotes rather than coins gained popularity, counterfeiting methods evolved—in the 1700s, an early banknote counterfeiter named Mary Butterworth created counterfeit paper money using starched cloth and a hot iron to transfer the pattern of a banknote onto paper.

Burning Man's DMV refers to the Department of Mutant Vehicles

There's a specific Burning Man lingo that can be hard to follow if you haven't attended before. MOOP essentially refers to litter, the playa is another word for Black Rock City, and a playa chicken is a mythical deadly chicken.

Up to $68M in coins gets trashed every year

Waste facilities and TSA say they collect thousands of dollars of discarded money per year. A Wall Street Journal reporter visited a waste facility and learned what you can do with your extra change.

Machine learning lets computers learn from data instead of relying on programming

ML is a core part of artificial intelligence and is foundational to applications like chatbots, fraud detection, and self-driving cars. Businesses are also adopting it to improve efficiency and identify patterns in data, though the latter may be inaccurate.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Flexible spending accounts are operated by employers

Unlike health savings accounts, which can be opened at banks and credit unions, FSAs are employer-owned and operated—meaning you can only access an FSA through an employer benefit, and the account doesn't follow you if you move jobs. To use an FSA to pay for a medical service or product, purchases typically have to be uploaded, approved, and then employees can be reimbursed.

A 'fishy' scent does lead to mistrust

In experiments where people were exposed to a literal fishy smell they were less willing to cooperate with others in economic games requiring trust, but that wasn't the case when they were exposed to another bad odor—the smell of flatulence.

People in certain states can now work remotely from prison

Prisoners in Maine can now use their laptops in their cells—not only for academic classes and homework, but also to work remotely for employers outside of the prison. One person in prison working as a software engineer was paid at least a six-figure salary.

Metal detectors identify induced magnetic fields in conductive objects

A changing magnetic field in a transmitter coil causes an electric current to be produced in materials that conduct electricity. This current generates its own magnetic field, which can be detected by a receiver coil and transmitted to a control box, which identifies the presence and depth of an object.

'Shoofly pie' was named after a molasses named after a mule named after a song

Although most people assumed the sweet dessert earned its name for its ability to attract flies, etymologists believe it can be traced back to a molasses brand named after a boxing mule (Shoofly the mule), who was named after a song ("Shoofly Don't Bother Me") that was a play on slang of the time.

'Move managers' help seniors downsize

The workers, many certified through the National Association of Senior & Specialty Move Managers, exist somewhere between a declutterer and a social worker.

How the underground maze below the Gaza Strip works

Hamas militants have constructed a web underneath the Gaza Strip filled with tunnels, residential areas, bunkers, and more. This article and illustrations explore the underground maze as detailed in photo and video evidence and witness accounts.

Shohei Ohtani's interpreter allegedly stole $16M for gambling debts

Ippei Mizuhara first met Shohei Ohtani during the two-way star’s rookie year in Japan. Ten years later, Mizuhara, who had become a trusted friend and confidant to Ohtani, is alleged to have stolen $16M from his employer to repay gambling debts.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Watch how deep-sea mining equipment collects and processes polymetallic nodules—metal-rich, potato-shaped rocks—from the ocean floor and creates environmentally damaging plumes of sediments.

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.

Learn how monoclonal antibodies, which mimic the body's antibodies, can fight diseases like Ebola.

Volcanoes 'die' when their supply of magma runs out, if they are shifted away from their underlying magma reservoir, or if they get clogged by collapsing or their magma cooling back into rock.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

Poison ivy is in the same family as mangoes, cashews, and pistachios—and they all produce oily urushiol in their raw, unprocessed state—but they are typically prepared in ways to avoid causing human discomfort.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

Power lines are dotted with large, brightly colored balls to improve the visibility of these thin wires to helicopters and small planes and help prevent potential crashes.

To reduce wrinkles in clothing, research recommends gentle wash cycles with more water and tumble drying with smaller loads and longer times.

In 2025, four executives from large tech companies were given positions in the US Army Reserves—including Palantir Chief Technology Officer Shyam Sankar, which reinforced Palantir's ties with the US military and its role as a leading defense partner.

Pure water does not conduct electricity because this flow of energy requires the movement of charged particles, and water is a neutral molecule.

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

Planarian flatworms are small, aquatic worms with exceptional regenerative capabilities. When cut, the worms can regenerate multiple bodies in a matter of weeks.