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Interpol Nets $439 Million in Global Fraud Sweep as Africa Sting Arrests 260

Using cross-border stop‑payment tools plus private intelligence, Interpol froze illicit flows, disrupting scam networks.

FILE - People walk on the Interpol logo at the international police agency headquarters in Lyon, central France, Nov. 8, 2018. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani, File)
A employee walks in the hall of the International Criminal Police Organization headquarters, known as Interpol, in Lyon, eastern France, on September 5, 2023.
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global financial crime crackdown

Overview

  • Operation HAECHI VI ran from April to August 2025 across 40 countries, recovering $439 million, including $342 million in government currencies and $97 million in physical and virtual assets.
  • Investigators blocked more than 68,000 bank accounts, froze about 400 cryptocurrency wallets, and recovered roughly $16 million from seized wallets.
  • The crackdown targeted voice phishing, romance scams, online sextortion, investment fraud, money laundering tied to illegal online gambling, business email compromise, and e‑commerce fraud.
  • Notable results included 45 arrests in Portugal for diverted social‑security payments (about $270,000 affecting 531 victims), a $6.6 million business email compromise seizure by Thai police, and a Korea–UAE recovery of about $3.9 million via I‑GRIP.
  • Separately, Operation Contender 3.0 across 14 African nations made 260 arrests, seized 1,235 devices, took down 81 infrastructures, and identified roughly 1,400–1,463 victims with losses near $2.8 million, supported by Group‑IB, Trend Micro, and UK FCDO funding.