In an operation, codenamed ‘Operation First Light 2026’, conducted between January 15 and April 30, 2026, involving law enforcement agencies from 97 countries and territories, including Nigeria, targeting cyber-enabled fraud, social engineering scams and money laundering networks, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) has arrested 5,811 suspects, the identification of more than 15,600 alleged fraudsters, and the interception of approximately $293 million in illicit assets linked to transnational financial crimes.
Sahara Reportes revealed that the INTERPOL disclosed the outcome of the operation in a report released, Thursday, describing social engineering scams as one of the fastest-growing global security threats affecting governments, businesses and millions of individuals worldwide.
The investigators identified more than 142,000 victims globally during the operation, underscoring the scale of financial fraud orchestrated by organised criminal syndicates operating across international borders.
The operation combined intelligence gathering, information sharing and coordinated enforcement activities, with participating countries carrying out raids, freezing bank accounts and cryptocurrency wallets, executing arrests, issuing international notices and deploying INTERPOL’s Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) mechanism to swiftly block illicit financial transfers.
INTERPOL said the operation produced significant results, including the analysis of 152,808 fraud-related cases, the blocking of 31,014 bank accounts, the resolution of 23,715 cases and the identification of 15,606 suspects.
Authorities also issued 99 INTERPOL Notices and Diffusions to facilitate international cooperation and arrests.
The international police organisation explained that the operation focused primarily on social engineering fraud, a category of cybercrime in which criminals manipulate victims into voluntarily disclosing confidential information or transferring money.
These schemes include business email compromise, romance scams, investment fraud, impersonation scams and sextortion, all of which rely on exploiting human trust rather than sophisticated technical hacking.
One of the major breakthroughs recorded during the operation occurred in Eswatini, where authorities dismantled an extensive criminal syndicate allegedly involved in illegal online gambling, money laundering and elaborate impersonation scams.
Police arrested 82 suspects and seized 240 electronic devices, foreign currencies and what INTERPOL described as a highly realistic replica of a Brazilian police station, complete with fake police uniforms, official signage and equipment.
Investigators said members of the syndicate impersonated officers of Brazil’s Federal Police during video calls, convincing victims that they were involved in criminal investigations before instructing them to transfer funds into purported “safe” accounts, from which the money was subsequently stolen.
Due to the complexity of the digital evidence recovered, INTERPOL deployed an Operational Support Team to Eswatini to assist local investigators with forensic examination of electronic devices.
In Thailand, authorities uncovered a sophisticated cryptocurrency-based money laundering operation linked to romance scams.
Police arrested two suspects after investigations revealed that one of them, a 20-year-old, had processed more than $122.5million through a digital wallet within just ten months.
According to INTERPOL, the syndicate used multiple cryptocurrencies and cross-chain token swaps to conceal the origin and destination of illicit proceeds, making the financial trail more difficult for investigators to trace.
Authorities in Singapore and Oman also recorded a major success after using INTERPOL’s I-GRIP payment intervention system to block an illicit transfer of approximately $6.6million connected to a Business Email Compromise (BEC) scam.
The fraud targeted a Singapore-based commodity trading company whose supplier’s identity had allegedly been impersonated by cybercriminals seeking to divert payments.
In Macao, China, an anti-fraud public awareness campaign conducted alongside the enforcement operation led to the rescue of a victim who was on the verge of transferring nearly $372,000 to fraudsters.
The victim had reportedly been manipulated by criminals posing as government officials conducting a fictitious fraud investigation before police intervened.
Meanwhile, authorities in Palau deported 22 foreign nationals allegedly involved in operating two scam centres from hotels.
INTERPOL said the suspects used cryptocurrency platforms and illegal online gambling websites to perpetrate fraud schemes targeting victims in multiple countries.
Sri Lankan authorities also carried out extensive enforcement operations during the three-month campaign, arresting hundreds of suspects allegedly linked to cyber-enabled scam centres operating within the country.
Commenting on the outcome of the operation, Director of INTERPOL’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, Tomonobu Kaya, warned that organised criminal groups continue to exploit human psychology to commit financial crimes on a massive scale.
“Social engineering scams continue to pose a significant threat to our society. Criminal syndicates exploit human psychology to manipulate their targets, and no nation can stay safe unless all countries are equipped and committed to jointly fighting back,” Kaya said.
He added that INTERPOL remains committed to supporting member countries in developing coordinated international strategies to combat cyber-enabled financial crimes, dismantle organised criminal networks and disrupt the money laundering systems that sustain them.
The organisation noted that the operation demonstrated the importance of international cooperation in tackling increasingly sophisticated cyber-enabled fraud schemes that transcend national borders and exploit weaknesses in global financial systems.
The participating countries include Albania, Anguilla (UK), Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belize, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo , Costa Rica, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Eswatini, France, Gambia, Ghana, Gibraltar (UK), Greece, Honduras, Hong Kong (China), Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Lao PDR, Latvia, Lebanon, and Lesotho.
Others are Libya, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Macao (China), Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, North Macedonia, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Palestine, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovakia, South Africa, South Sudan, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, Türkiye, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Viet Nam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
