INTERPOL’s Operation First Light 2026 led to 5,811 arrests, blocked $293M in criminal assets, and disrupted global fraud and money laundering networks.
INTERPOL coordinated a four-month operation across 97 countries and territories that ended with 5,811 arrests and the interception of USD 293 million in illicit assets. Operation First Light 2026 ran from January 15 to April 30, 2026, targeting social engineering scams and the money laundering operations that process the proceeds. Over 142,000 victims were identified globally during the operation.
“A global anti-fraud operation involving 97 countries and territories has led to the arrest of 5,811 individuals and the interception of USD 293 million in illicit assets.” reads the press release by INTERPOL.”Operation First Light 2026 (15 Jan 2026 – 30 April 2026), coordinated by INTERPOL, focused on combatting social engineering scams and associated money laundering activities.”
The operation covered business email compromise, romance scams, investment fraud, sextortion, and impersonation schemes. In total, 152,808 cases were analyzed, 31,014 bank accounts blocked, and 15,606 suspects identified.
Some of the individual cases stand out.
“In Eswatini, police arrested 82 people and dismantled a criminal network running illegal online gambling, money laundering and elaborate impersonation scams. Authorities seized 240 electronic devices, foreign currency and a realistic replica of a Brazilian police station, complete with fake uniforms, signage and equipment.” continues the press release.
The scammers posed as Brazil’s Federal Police on video calls, convincing targets they were victims of a crime and needed to transfer funds for “safekeeping.” INTERPOL deployed an Operational Support Team to help Eswatini authorities handle the scale and complexity of the digital forensics involved.
The financial flows traced in Thailand were equally striking.
In Thailand, police made two arrests and uncovered a money laundering scheme that funneled illicit funds from romance scams into various cryptocurrencies, utilizing cross-chain token swaps to obscure the financial trail. Investigations showed that the digital wallet of one of the suspects, aged 20, had processed more than USD 122.5 million in just 10 months. states the law enforcement agency.
Twenty years old, $122 million in ten months. Either the career counseling failed somewhere, or this was always the plan.
INTERPOL’s stop-payment mechanism, I-GRIP, also proved its value in real time.
“Authorities in Singapore and Oman utilized I-GRIP to block a USD 6.6 million illicit transfer linked to a Business Email Compromise scam. In this case, a Singapore-based commodity trading firm was targeted by criminals impersonating a supplier.” continues the announcement.
In Macao, a public anti-fraud outreach campaign uncovered an active fraud in progress: a participant was in the middle of being manipulated by a criminal group impersonating officials, and police intervened before nearly USD 372,000 left the victim’s account. In Palau, 22 individuals were deported after authorities dismantled two scam centers operating out of hotels, running online fraud schemes using cryptocurrency and illegal gambling platforms against victims in other countries.
“Social engineering scams continue to pose a significant threat to our society.” said Tomonobu Kaya, Director of the INTERPOL 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. INTERPOL is dedicated to supporting member countries in building a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to tackle cyber-enabled financial crimes, organized criminal networks and the money laundering that fuels them.”
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