Jan.20, 2010, 3:39PM

Emails boasting of work-from-home opportunities could be a front for money laundering by gangs, Queensland's crime watchdog has warned.

The warning was included in a new Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) report into money laundering and organised crime in Queensland, released on Wednesday.

The report said as much as $6 billion a year was being laundered across Australia by organised criminals using a range of scams, many of which use the internet.

"If there is one constant in money laundering techniques, it is the manner in which they can change to counter law enforcement efforts and regulatory regimes and to take advantage of technological opportunities," the report says.

Many gangs used third parties, known as money mules, to help move the proceeds of crime.

"This person may be recruited, often unknowingly, to receive sums of money into their own account and are then required to forward the money back to the organisers of the fraud," the report said.

It said warning signs of this technique included unsolicited emails offering a "too good to be true work-from-home opportunity", or a job advertisement that simply required someone to receive and forward funds.

CMC director of intelligence Chris Keen said money laundering was a high risk in terms of its cost to government, small business and financial institutions and ultimately the Australian public.

"The CMC therefore regards it as a priority to develop a better understanding of the money laundering strategies being developed and implemented so that law enforcement agencies can be more effective in countering them," Mr Keen said.

The report recommended that anti-money laundering laws be extended to enable charges to be laid against financial, technical and legal experts who advice crime gangs on better ways to launder their ill-gotten gains.