I've heard that “first world” and “third world” are considered a bit too sensitive today, so let's say “world M” and “world N”. Anti-fraud systems in banks and

I've heard that “first world” and “third world” are considered a bit too sensitive today, so let's say “world M” and “world N”. Anti-fraud systems in banks and payment processors form world M do not like withdrawal requests coming from world N, and vice versa. Only a small number of people travel between two worlds, so they can be pressed to make extra steps and go through extra checks. In addition, Russian banks work differently. From the very beginning of internet shopping era (happened well into mobile phone era) they enabled SMS verification. Almost any time you buy something from a local service, you are redirected to your bank page to enter the security code, then proceed back to the seller. This requires participation from mobile phone operators that alert the bank if owner of the number or device IMEI changes, and so on. After you typed the code from your phone, getting money back in case of fraud is your problem. If money transfer between those areas is complicated, what can you do? You can buy expensive goods with local cards from local backdoored computers, and ship them to local addresses. Then they can be transferred to be sold on the other side. Extra money you spend on that are not yours anyway. I'm no expert, but something tells me that deliberately not paying low level mules is a sign of: a) the scheme being near its end (sooner or later the audience would spread the word that “those guys never pay”, and new mules would be hard to find), or b) driving the competitors with low recruitment abilities out of the market. Maybe this leak is really a sign of some quarrel underground.