Money muling
An “easy money” message. A favour for a friend. Criminals recruit young people to move stolen money through their accounts, often without them understanding the consequences.
A Financial Crime Lab initiative
THE OWNGOAL PROJECT.Financial crime prevention for young people in grassroots sport
Stopping young people scoring the own goal that follows them for life.
Fraud, scams and financial exploitation. Tackled through the clubs they already trust.
In development. Built for lasting change.
ON THE PITCH. OFF THE PITCH. ON THEIR SIDE.One mission. Five sports.Rugby leagueFootballNetballBoxingBasketball
The why
Their future.
Not someone else’s
opportunity.
Criminals recruit, scam and extort young people where they already are: on social media, in marketplace apps, in group chats and around their sports clubs.
One message can have consequences that last for years. Own Goal is designed to help young people recognise the risk, and give the people around them the confidence to step in.
Scams
A ticket that never arrives. A marketplace deal that is too good to be true. Social media and resale platforms put young people within reach of convincing, everyday scams.
Financial sextortion
An image shared in confidence becomes a threat. Criminals demand money and use fear and shame to keep young people silent. Recognising the signs can help interrupt the harm.
The name is deliberate. A scam, mule recruitment or coercion can leave a young person with closed accounts, a fraud-prevention marker, potential criminal liability or lasting emotional harm. The responsibility lies with those exploiting them. The point of Own Goal is to prevent that harm, not blame the young person.
What the project brings
Young people
Kit for young people
Own Goal sponsors the playing kit, and every young person gets an awareness session with their team, plus the materials to become an Own Goal ambassador.
Parents & carers
Awareness and support
Online awareness sessions and practical resources for the home, so parents and carers can spot the warning signs and start the conversation.
Coaches & volunteers
Safeguarding CPD
Online CPD safeguarding courses showing coaches what to spot, when to step in and how to intervene.
Why sport?
The right place.
The trusted people.
A sports club is more than a place to play. It is a community: familiar coaches, influential teammates and parents who show up week after week.
That trust makes clubs a powerful place to talk about financial crime. Own Goal brings safeguarding into the spaces young people already belong to, before a risk becomes a crisis.
“It changes the environment around them.”
Our approach
Prevention built
into the club.
Not just awareness leaflets. Practical, evidence-led learning for young people and the whole team around them, built on behavioural science and criminology.
Young people
An awareness session with their team, in person, for under-16s including boys, girls and disabled players. Real-world scenarios, like a DM, a marketplace overpayment, a group-chat “opportunity” or an image threat, rehearse the behaviours that break the chain. Every young person also receives materials to become an Own Goal ambassador, equipped to spread what they have learned through their own networks.
Coaches & volunteers
Online CPD safeguarding courses covering what to spot, when to step in and how to intervene, and where to refer. Equipping the trusted adults already on the touchline to act with confidence.
Parents & carers
Online awareness sessions and practical resources for the home. Recognising warning signs in a young person’s phone, bank account and behaviour, and knowing how to start a supportive conversation.
The peer challenge
A hoodie.
A conversation.
A way to help.
For clubs that need it, Own Goal sponsors the playing kit. Every club also gets an awareness session with the team, and every young person receives materials to become an Own Goal ambassador: someone equipped to spread what they have learned among their own networks.
We call it the peer challenge, and we know it works. A young person who has been targeted may talk to a friend before an adult. Hoodies worn at school, in town and among friends keep the conversation going, and a visible, trained peer can be an early connection to help before fear or shame pushes the problem into hiding.
Clubs that need kit and clubs that already have sponsors are both part of the model. The same prevention, without excluding a club because of its existing arrangements.
Dr Nicola Harding
FOUNDER · FINANCIAL CRIME LAB CIC
A criminologist specialising in fraud psychology and financial crime prevention, and a Home Office Specialist Advisor.
As CEO of We Fight Fraud, Nicola designed and led a four-year national programme tackling money mule recruitment among university students, backed by Lloyds Bank and the City of London Police. Own Goal brings that evidence-led approach earlier in the recruitment pipeline.
Financial Crime Lab is a not-for-profit CIC with an asset lock. The delivery model is designed around a full safeguarding policy, DBS-checked staff and safeguarding training.
Not-for-profit CICEvidence-ledSafeguarding first
What’s next
Built to make
a measurable difference.
Good intentions are not enough. The planned evaluation will ask whether the project changes what people do, not just what they know.
Reach
Young people, coaches and parents trained; clubs engaged; kits and hoodies distributed.
Behaviour
Before-and-after measures of knowledge, attitudes and intent. What changes beyond awareness?
Peer conversations
Conversations sparked by hoodies, connections with untrained peers and friends asking for help.
Real experiences
Anonymised case studies, feedback from coaches and families, and lessons for future delivery.
The next chapter is ahead.
Own Goal is awaiting funding. Launch details, confirmed clubs and sponsors, and impact updates will appear here when confirmed.
The proposed first year: build, pilot, expand and evidence. Future plans include athlete involvement and expansion across five sports.
A little more detail
Good questions.
Straight answers.
Be part of the conversation
On their side.
From the start.
Clubs, teams, potential sponsors, families and anyone interested in Own Goal: we’d love to hear from you.
hello@fcresearchlab.com