Knowing receipt
Updated 2026-09-29
Knowing receipt is a legal doctrine that can make a person liable to return money if they received it while knowing, or having enough reason to suspect, that it came from fraud. It targets people beyond the original scammer who still ended up holding or benefiting from the funds.
When it matters
This can apply to a mule account holder who was aware, or should reasonably have been aware, that the funds passing through their account were dishonestly obtained. It gives a possible route to recover money even when the account holder was not the one who directly deceived you, and is often raised as part of a civil claim against a scammer.
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