By PAUL O’DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent
OPERATION First Light, a global law enforcement operation coordinated by Interpol, has led to more than 5,800 arrests.
Authorities also intercepted $293 million in illicit assets while targeting fraud networks and the money laundering systems that support them.
The operation ran from January 15 to April 30 and involved police in 97 countries and territories. It focused on social engineering scams, including business email compromise, investment fraud, romance scams, sextortion and impersonation fraud.
Interpol said “a global anti-fraud operation involving 97 countries and territories has led to the arrest of 5,811 individuals and the interception of USD 293 million in illicit assets.”
After an intelligence-sharing phase, participating countries carried out more than three months of coordinated enforcement activity.
Interpol said authorities raided suspected premises, froze bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets, issued international notices and used its Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) system to block illicit financial transfers.
Authorities identified more than 142,000 victims during the operation.
“Social engineering scams continue to pose a significant threat to our society,” said Tomonobu Kaya, Director of Interpol’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre.
“Criminal syndicates exploit human psychology to manipulate their targets, and no nation can stay safe unless all countries are equipped and committed to jointly fighting back.”
Kaya said Interpol remained committed to helping member countries build “a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to tackle cyber-enabled financial crimes, organized criminal networks and the money laundering that fuels them.”
The operation uncovered a range of schemes across participating countries. In Eswatini, police arrested 82 suspects linked to illegal online gambling, money laundering and impersonation scams. They dismantled a fake Brazilian police station that criminals used to convince victims to transfer funds.
In Thailand, police uncovered a money laundering network linked to romance scams. Investigators said one suspect’s cryptocurrency wallet processed more than $122.5 million in just 10 months.
Authorities in Singapore and Oman also used Interpol’s I-GRIP payment recovery mechanism. They blocked a USD 6.6 million transfer linked to a business email compromise scam before the funds reached criminals.
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