July 9 (THEWILL) — The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) has announced the arrest of more than 5,800 suspects and the recovery of over $293 million during a coordinated anti-fraud operation conducted across 97 countries.
Interpol disclosed on Thursday that the operation, codenamed Operation First Light 2026, was carried out between January 15 and April 30, 2026, targeting transnational criminal networks involved in business email compromise (BEC), investment fraud, romance scams, sextortion, impersonation schemes and the laundering of illicit proceeds.
The global policing agency said the operation also led to the identification of more than 142,000 victims of social engineering fraud across the participating countries.
According to Interpol, investigators analysed 152,808 cases, solved 23,715 investigations, identified 15,606 suspects, blocked 31,014 bank accounts, and issued 99 Interpol Notices and Diffusions to support cross-border investigations and the apprehension of suspects.
It added that many of the frozen bank accounts were secured through I-GRIP, Interpol’s stop-payment mechanism designed to rapidly halt suspicious financial transactions involving both traditional banking systems and virtual assets before stolen funds can be moved beyond the reach of law enforcement.
Commenting on the operation, the Director of Interpol’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre described social engineering scams as one of the most significant threats facing societies today.
The director noted that organised criminal groups increasingly exploit human psychology to manipulate victims into voluntarily surrendering money or sensitive information, stressing that no country can successfully combat such sophisticated syndicates in isolation.
He said Interpol remains committed to supporting its member countries with coordinated strategies, intelligence sharing and operational assistance to dismantle cyber-enabled financial crime networks and the money laundering structures that sustain them.
Interpol highlighted several major cases uncovered during the operation.
In Thailand, investigators traced a 20-year-old suspect who allegedly moved more than $122.5 million through a cryptocurrency wallet within just ten months as part of a money laundering network linked to romance scams.
Thai authorities also arrested two additional suspects connected to another laundering operation that channelled proceeds of romance fraud through multiple cryptocurrencies using cross-chain token swaps to conceal the movement of illicit funds.
In Singapore and Oman, authorities successfully used the I-GRIP platform to block an attempted transfer of $6.6 million linked to a Business Email Compromise scheme after fraudsters impersonated a supplier of a Singapore-based commodity trading company.
In Eswatini, where digital fraud has become increasingly prevalent, Interpol deployed an Operational Support Team to assist local investigators in examining electronic devices connected to cybercrime investigations.
The operation resulted in the arrest of 82 suspects, while law enforcement officers seized 240 electronic devices, foreign currencies and other evidence linked to illegal online gambling, impersonation scams and money laundering.
In Macao, China, authorities combined enforcement efforts with public awareness campaigns to prevent online fraud.
Police successfully intervened before a victim, who had been deceived by fraudsters posing as government officials conducting a fake investigation, transferred nearly $372,000 to the criminal syndicate.
Meanwhile, authorities in Palau deported 22 individuals allegedly linked to two scam centres operating from hotels.
According to Interpol, the suspects used cryptocurrency platforms and illegal gambling websites to target victims in multiple countries through a range of online fraud schemes.
Interpol said the success of Operation First Light 2026 demonstrates the critical role of international cooperation, intelligence sharing and coordinated law enforcement in dismantling sophisticated cybercrime syndicates operating across national borders.
The agency noted that the latest operation builds on previous global anti-fraud enforcement actions.
In January, a separate Interpol-led operation across 16 African countries resulted in the arrest of 651 suspects and the recovery of more than $4.3 million.
That eight-week operation uncovered fraud schemes linked to losses exceeding $45 million and identified 1,247 victims, most of whom were in Africa, although victims from other regions were also affected.
As part of the African operation, Nigerian authorities dismantled a cybercrime network allegedly operating fraudulent high-yield investment schemes commonly associated with “419” scams.
Investigators also shut down more than 1,000 fraudulent social media accounts and uncovered a building allegedly serving as the operational base of the criminal network.
In another Nigerian case, security agencies arrested six members of a cybercrime syndicate accused of infiltrating the internal systems of a telecommunications company using compromised employee credentials to divert airtime and mobile data for illegal resale.
Interpol said the cases illustrate the evolving sophistication of cyber-enabled financial crime and reaffirm the need for sustained international collaboration to protect individuals, businesses and financial systems from increasingly complex fraud networks.
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