In a landmark operation against online financial crime, law enforcement agencies across 34 countries in collaboration with INTERPOL have arrested almost 3,500 suspects and seized assets worth US$300 million.
Spanning from July to December 2023, Operation HAECHI IV targeted a spectrum of cyber-enabled scams, ranging from voice phishing and romance scams to investment fraud and money laundering associated with illegal online gambling.
The collaborative effort employed the innovative Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) system, a tool instrumental in detecting online fraud and freezing associated bank and virtual asset service provider (VASP) accounts.
A notable success was the arrest in Manila of a high-profile online gambling criminal, culminating a two-year manhunt by Korea's National Police Agency.
The operation led to the blocking of 82,112 suspicious bank accounts, with US$199 million seized in hard currency and US$101 million in virtual assets.
????????♀️Operation Haechi IV makes online world safer for all by attacking AI-driven scams and e-frauds: ????3000 arrests, 82,000 suspicious accounts blocked & USD 300 million seized & networks disrupted #CyberSecurity https://t.co/tlHuam6xYx— INTERPOL (@INTERPOL_HQ) December 19, 2023
"Staggering sum"
INTERPOL’s executive director of police services Stephen Kavanagh said: "The seizure of US$300 million represents a staggering sum and clearly illustrates the incentive behind today’s explosive growth of transnational organized crime.
"This represents the savings and hard-earned cash of victims.
"This vast accumulation of unlawful wealth is a serious threat to global security and weakens the economic stability of nations worldwide."
Operation highlights
Operation HAECHI IV also shed light on the increasing prevalence of investment fraud, business email compromise and e-commerce fraud, which constituted 75% of the investigated cases.
The operation's scope extended to the issuance of purple notices, warning about new scamming techniques involving NFTs and the exploitation of AI and deep fake technology.
This operation, financially supported by Korea, underscores the critical need for global cooperation in the ongoing battle against sophisticated and ever-evolving cyber-enabled crimes.
Purple notices
Two Purple Notices were published during Operation HAECHI IV warning countries about emerging digital investment fraud practices.
One alerted INTERPOL member countries to a new scam detected in Korea involving the sale of Non-Fungible Tokens with promises of huge returns, which turned out to be a “rug pull”, a growing scam in the crypto industry where developers abruptly abandon a project and investors lose their money.
The second purple notice warned about the use of AI and deep fake technology to lend credibility to scams by enabling criminals to hide their identities and to pretend to be family member, friends or love interests.
The UK leg of the operation reported several cases where AI-generated synthetic content was used to deceive, defraud, harass and extort victims, particularly through impersonation scams, online sexual blackmail, and investment fraud.
Cases also involved the impersonation of people known to the victims through voice cloning technology.