A recent international law enforcement initiative has resulted in the arrest of over 5,500 individuals linked to financial crimes. This operation has also successfully seized over $400 million in virtual assets and government-backed currencies.
INTERPOL Arrests 5,500 in Global Cybercrime Crackdown, Seizes Over $400 Million
INTERPOL’s Operation HAECHI V, a five-month international collaboration involving law enforcement agencies from 40 countries, has achieved results in the fight against financial cybercrime. Running from July to November 2024, it spanning July to November 2024, resulted in over 5,500 arrests.
Authorities seized more than $400 million in assets, including government-backed currencies and cryptocurrencies. The operation targeted seven types of cyber-enabled fraud: voice phishing, romance scams, online sextortion, investment fraud, illegal gambling, business email compromise (BEC), and e-commerce fraud.
Among others, authorities in South Korea and Beijing dismantled a sophisticated voice phishing syndicate. This criminal network had defrauded victims of $1.1 billion (1,511 billion KRW). They posed as law enforcement, using counterfeit IDs to deceive over 1,900 victims. The crackdown led to 27 arrests and the indictment of 19 key members.
INTERPOL has also issued a purple notice, which highlighted an emerging stablecoin-related fraud known as the “USDT Token Approval Scam.” This scam tricks victims into granting unauthorized access to their cryptocurrency wallets. A Purple Notice is an alert issued by INTERPOL to inform member countries about new or unusual methods, schemes, or technologies used by criminals. It aims to share information that can help law enforcement better understand and counter these threats.
How did those scams operate?
Using romance scams as a lure, fraudsters persuade victims to purchase Tether (USDT) on legitimate platforms. Victims are then directed to phishing links disguised as investment account setup tools, inadvertently granting scammers full control of their wallets.
Another aspect that played a role in this case is INTERPOL’s Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP), a stop-payment mechanism aimed at intercepting stolen funds in real time. For example, in Singapore, authorities intercepted $39.3 million from a BEC scheme targeting a local commodity firm, with additional funds recovered across jurisdictions.
On the other hand, in Guernsey, UK authorities, following the I-GRIP training, recovered £2 million (approximately $2.5 million) stolen in a BEC fraud. Rapid coordination with Portuguese police ensured the victim received the full amount back.
Building on the progress of previous HAECHI operations, this fifth installment significantly increased its impact, solving 8,309 cases (nearly double the previous year) and blocking 1,023 virtual asset service provider accounts – three times the 2023 count.
