INTERPOL on Tuesday announced the completion of Operation HAECHI IV, a six-month transcontinental police operation targeting various cyber-enabled scams across 34 countries, resulting in the arrest of almost 3,500 individuals and the seizure of $300 million worth of assets.
The operation focused on seven types of online financial crimes, including voice phishing, romance scams, online sextortion, investment fraud, money laundering linked to illegal online gambling, business email compromise fraud, and e-commerce fraud.
Countries involved in the operation included Argentina, Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Cayman Islands, Ghana, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Korea, Romania, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, and Viet Nam.
INTERPOL revealed that its Global Rapid Intervention of Payments mechanism, designed to stop payments and block criminal proceeds, played a crucial role in freezing associated bank and virtual asset service provider accounts.
The operation’s success was underscored by the cooperation between Filipino and Korean authorities, leading to the arrest of a high-profile online gambling criminal in Manila after a two-year manhunt by Korea’s National Police Agency.
A total of 82,112 suspicious bank accounts were blocked, resulting in the seizure of $199 million in hard currency and $101 million in virtual assets.
INTERPOL’s Executive Director of Police Services, Stephen Kavanagh, commented on the operation, stating, “The seizure of USD 300 million represents a staggering sum and clearly illustrates the incentive behind today’s explosive growth of transnational organized crime. This vast accumulation of unlawful wealth is a serious threat to global security and weakens the economic stability of nations worldwide.”
During the operation, INTERPOL worked with various VASPs to identify 367 virtual asset accounts linked to transnational organized crime.
INTERPOL’s Head of the National Central Bureau in Korea, Kim Dong Kwon, highlighted the importance of staying ahead of emerging criminal trends.
He mentioned the publication of two Purple Notices during Operation HAECHI IV, warning countries about new digital investment fraud practices.
The first Purple Notice alerted INTERPOL member countries to a scam in Korea involving the sale of Non-Fungible Tokens with false promises of significant returns.
The second notice warned about the use of AI and deep fake technology to enhance the credibility of scams, allowing criminals to hide their identities and impersonate family members, friends, or love interests.
The UK leg of the operation reported cases where AI-generated synthetic content was used in scams involving deception, fraud, harassment, and extortion, particularly through impersonation scams, online sexual blackmail, and investment fraud.
Cases also included the impersonation of individuals known to the victims through voice cloning technology.
