Question about legality of running remote gambling accounts//being a "booky"

Hi, I have a question about a situation I heard about on my college campus.

I have heard of people being sent a computer from some "gambling network" run by some like computer science alumni I think, and being asked to run online gambling accounts remotely for about two weeks. I think the accounts are in their real name, but the third party controls the computer and gives instructions. Large sums of money are deposited and withdrawn, and the person is given a check for “keeping it running.” I'm pretty sure you also keep the computer after. I've heard people call it "being a booky," but from what I understand, you can be a booky on the like major online gambling sites.

What legal risks could this have, because it seems like a bunch of red flags? I think it could be fraud or a money laundering scheme of some sort. Is there any world where this is legal? It really feels illegal, but I know people who are interested in joining because it's good money. I'm scared my friends will get roped up in all of this just because we are all broke college students, and to me, this looks like an alumnus taking advantage of that to conduct illegal activities under these people's names.

I’m asking to understand the legal perspective and probable consequences. This is also all just the rumors//things i can remember from overhearing, so there may be details I don't have that make this sound better or worse, I'm really not sure.

Please let me know what this could be. What situations could this just sound really bad but actually be legal, or is it almost definitely some illegal scheme?

Location: MI