Security News > 2021 > November > Massive online crime crackdown leads to 1,000 arrests

An operation coordinated by INTERPOL codenamed HAECHI-II saw police arrest more than 1,000 individuals and intercept a total of nearly $27 million of illicit funds, underlining the global threat of cyber-enabled financial crime.

HAECHI-II is the second operation in a three-year project to tackle cyber-enabled financial crime supported by the Republic of Korea and the first that is truly global in scope, with the participation of INTERPOL member countries on every continent.

"The results of Operation HAECHI-II show that the surge in online financial crime generated by the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of waning," said INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock.

As INTERPOL looks to officially launch the ARRP next year, the organization's financial crime unit is continuing to work with member countries to integrate the system into existing communications channels.

Half of the money was transferred before the company uncovered the fraud and alerted the Colombian judicial authorities, which in turn quickly contacted INTERPOL's financial crime unit through their National Central Bureau in Bogota.

"Online scams like those leveraging malicious apps evolve as quickly as the cultural trends they opportunistically exploit," said José De Gracia, Assistant Director, Criminal Networks at INTERPOL. "Sharing information on emerging threats is vital to the ability of police to protect the victims of online financial crime. It also lets police know that no country is alone in this fight. Operation HAECHI-II shows that we can successfully strike back against this threat when we act together."

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https://www.helpnetsecurity.com/2021/11/30/haechi-ii-crime-crackdown/