INTERPOL Operation Targets Seven Types of Cyber-Enabled Financial Crimes

Operation HAECHI VI specifically targeted seven major cyber-enabled financial crimes: voice phishing, romance scams, online sextortion, investment fraud, money laundering associated with illegal online gambling, business email compromise, and e-commerce fraud.

RMN News Crime Desk
October 19, 2025

SINGAPORE – An INTERPOL-coordinated operation spanning 40 countries and territories has successfully recovered USD 439 million in assets, targeting seven distinct types of cyber-enabled financial crimes. The operation, known as HAECHI VI, ran from April to August 2025.

The recovered funds include USD 342 million in government-backed currencies and USD 97 million in physical and virtual assets. This global effort aimed to detect and disrupt online fraud and money laundering activities.

Operation HAECHI VI specifically targeted seven major cyber-enabled financial crimes: voice phishing, romance scams, online sextortion, investment fraud, money laundering associated with illegal online gambling, business email compromise, and e-commerce fraud.

Investigators successfully blocked over 68,000 associated bank accounts and froze close to 400 cryptocurrency wallets. Additionally, around USD 16 million in suspected illicit profits was recovered from cryptocurrency wallets alone.

Notable successes were seen across multiple jurisdictions in depriving criminals of their illegal gains. In Thailand, the Royal Thai Police seized USD 6.6 million in stolen assets, marking the country’s largest single-case recovery to date. This case involved a sophisticated business email compromise scam perpetrated by a transnational organized crime group involving Thai and West African nationals who deceived a major Japanese corporation into transferring funds to a fictitious business partner in Bangkok.

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In Portugal, authorities dismantled a sprawling syndicate that had been diverting funds intended to support vulnerable families. This operation led to the arrest of 45 suspects who illegally accessed social security accounts and altered bank details, resulting in EUR 228,000 (USD 270,000) stolen from 531 victims.

A crucial tool utilized during the operation was INTERPOL’s Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP), a stop-payment mechanism launched in 2022. I-GRIP was used extensively to block criminal proceeds. For example, the Korean National Police Agency and Emirati authorities worked together using I-GRIP to successfully recover KRW 6.6 billion (USD 3.91 million) that had been sent to an illegitimate bank account in Dubai following a case where a Korean steel company’s shipping documents had been forged. Rapid communication between the two countries enabled the stolen funds to be intercepted and fully returned.

Theos Badege, Director pro tempore of INTERPOL’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, commented on the success of the mission following a debrief in Singapore: “While many people believe that funds lost to fraud and scams are often irretrievable, the outcomes of HAECHI operations demonstrate that recovery is indeed possible,” he stated, adding that HAECHI is a prime example of how global cooperation safeguards financial systems and encouraged more member countries to join the collective effort.

Lee Jun Hyeong, Head of Korea’s INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Seoul, affirmed the importance of the operation, noting that HAECHI “has time and again demonstrated the power of unified global action in eradicating cyber-enabled financial crime”. He further emphasized that the Republic of Korea, which financially supports HAECHI operations, has been at the forefront of disrupting illicit financial flows and apprehending key offenders.

The 40 participating countries and territories in Operation HAECHI VI included the United States, the United Kingdom, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates, among others.