INTERPOL Operation First Light nets 5,811 suspects, seizes $293m in global anti-fraud crackdown
INTERPOL has announced the arrest of 5,811 suspects and the seizure of more than $293 million in illicit funds and digital assets following a coordinated global operation targeting cyber-enabled financial crime across 97 countries.
The operation, codenamed Operation First Light 2026, was conducted between January 15 and April 30 and focused on dismantling transnational criminal networks involved in business email compromise (BEC), romance scams, sextortion, phishing, phone impersonation fraud and related money laundering activities.
According to figures released by INTERPOL on Thursday, investigators reviewed more than 152,000 cases during the operation, froze 31,014 bank accounts linked to suspected criminal activity and identified over 142,000 victims worldwide.
INTERPOL said the operation demonstrated the growing sophistication and global reach of cyber-enabled fraud syndicates.
Among the major breakthroughs was the dismantling of an elaborate scam centre in Eswatini, where authorities uncovered a facility designed to resemble a Brazilian federal police station. Investigators said suspects allegedly wore counterfeit police uniforms, displayed fake official insignia and used video calls to convince victims they were under criminal investigation before persuading them to transfer money for “safe keeping.”
Police recovered 240 electronic devices and foreign currency during the raid.
In Palau, authorities shut down two scam centres operating from luxury hotels. Twenty-two foreign nationals allegedly linked to online gambling and cryptocurrency investment fraud were arrested and later deported.
INTERPOL attributed much of the operation’s financial success to its Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) system, which enables member countries to quickly trace and freeze suspicious financial transfers before the funds can be moved through complex laundering networks.
“Social engineering scams continue to pose a significant threat to our society,” said Tomonobu Kaya, Director of INTERPOL’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre.
“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,” he added.
The agency cited a case in which authorities in Singapore and Oman used the I-GRIP system to intercept a fraudulent transfer of $6.6 million after scammers allegedly compromised a business email account and impersonated a supplier to a Singapore-based commodity trading company.
In another case, police in Macao, China, prevented an elderly victim from transferring approximately $372,000 after officers intervened while fraudsters posing as government investigators were directing the victim over the phone.
The multinational operation received funding from China’s Ministry of Public Security and involved cooperation from several international law enforcement bodies, including Europol, GCCPOL and ASEANAPOL.
INTERPOL said investigations are continuing, with 99 international Red Notices and diffusions already issued for suspected criminal network leaders believed to have fled during the operation.