The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) on Tuesday, December 19, 2023, announced the conclusion of a transcontinental police operation against online financial crime with almost 3,500 arrests and seizures of $300 million worth of assets across 34 countries.
The six-month Operation HAECHI IV (July-December 2023) targeted seven types of cyber-enabled sc@ms: voice phishing, romance sc@ms, online s+xtortion, investment fra¥d, money laundering associated with illegal online gambling, business email compromise fra¥d, and e-commerce fra¥d.
According to INTERPOL, the operation was carried out across 34 countries, which include 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, Viet Nam.
INTERPOL said the Investigators in HAECHI IV worked together to detect online fraud and freeze associated bank and virtual asset service provider (VASP) accounts using its Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP), a stop-payment mechanism that helps countries work together to block criminal proceeds.
It added that cooperation between Filipino and Korean authorities led to the arrest in Manila of a high-profile online gambling criminal after a two-year manhunt by Korea’s National Police Agency
The authorities blocked 82,112 suspicious bank accounts, seizing a combined $199 million in hard currency and USD 101 million in virtual assets.
Working with several VASPs, INTERPOL said it helped frontline officers identify 367 virtual asset accounts linked to transnational organized crime.
INTERPOL’s Head of the National Central Bureau in Korea, Kim Dong Kwon, said the body has warned member countries about emerging digital investment fraud practices.
The UK leg of the operation reported several cases where Al- generated synthetic content was used to deceive, defra¥d, hara§§ and extort victims, particularly through impersonation sc@ms, online s+x¥al blackmail, and investment fra¥d.
Cases also involved the impersonation of people known to the victims through voice cloning technology.
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