A global anti-fraud operation involving 97 countries and territories has led to the arrest of 5,811 suspects and the interception of approximately $293m in illicit assets linked to financial crimes and online scams.
The operation, codenamed Operation First Light 2026, was coordinated by INTERPOL and ran between January 15 and April 30, 2026.
According to INTERPOL in a statement released on Thursday, the operation targeted social engineering scams and associated money laundering activities, including business email compromise, sextortion, romance scams, impersonation fraud and investment scams.
During the three-month operation, hundreds of suspects were arrested in Sri Lanka for their involvement in cyber scam centres. Credit: INTERPOL
Social engineering fraud involves criminals exploiting victims’ trust to obtain money or confidential information through deception and manipulation.
Following an initial phase of intelligence gathering and information sharing, participating countries carried out more than three months of coordinated enforcement actions targeting high-value suspects and criminal networks.
The activities included raids on identified locations, the blocking and freezing of bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets, the issuance of INTERPOL Notices and Diffusions, and the use of INTERPOL’s Global Rapid Intervention of Payments mechanism to swiftly halt suspicious financial transactions.
Director of the INTERPOL Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, Tomonobu Kaya, said social engineering scams continue to pose a major threat globally.
Among the major breakthroughs recorded during the operation was the arrest of 82 people in Eswatini over an illegal online gambling and impersonation scam network.
In Eswatini, police dismantled a criminal network running illegal online gambling, money laundering and elaborate impersonation scams. Credit: INTERPOL
Authorities seized 240 electronic devices, foreign currencies and a replica of a Brazilian police station complete with fake uniforms and equipment allegedly used to convince victims they were dealing with legitimate law enforcement officers.
In Thailand, police arrested two suspects linked to a romance scam and cryptocurrency money laundering network. Investigators said one suspect’s digital wallet processed more than $122.5m in illicit transactions within 10 months.
Authorities in Singapore and Oman also collaborated to block a fraudulent transfer of $6.6m linked to a business email compromise scheme targeting a commodity trading company.
In Eswatini, police dismantled a criminal network running illegal online gambling, money laundering and elaborate impersonation scams. Credit: INTERPOL
Meanwhile, police in Macao prevented a victim from transferring nearly $372,000 to fraudsters posing as public officials after officers identified the scam during a community outreach campaign.
In Palau, authorities deported 22 individuals allegedly linked to scam centres operating from hotels and targeting foreign victims through cryptocurrency and illegal gambling websites.
INTERPOL said the operation demonstrated the importance of international cooperation in combating increasingly sophisticated cyber-enabled financial crimes and disrupting the criminal networks behind them.
