Nearly 3,500 suspects were arrested and $300 million seized as a result of a six-month joint law enforcement operation supported by the South Korean government and involving police from 34 countries across the world.
Dubbed “HAECHI IV,” the operation, spanning from July to December 2023, targeted seven types of cyber scams, including voice phishing, romance scams, online sextortion, investment fraud, money laundering linked to illegal online gambling, business email compromise fraud, and e-commerce fraud.
Law enforcement agencies collaborated on a global scale to detect online fraud, freeze associated bank accounts, and disrupt criminal activities. The collaboration between Filipino and Korean authorities resulted in the arrest of a high-profile online gambling criminal in Manila after a two-year manhunt by Korea's National Police Agency.
During the operation, authorities blocked 82,112 suspicious bank accounts, seizing a combined $199 million in hard currency and $101 million in virtual assets. Investment fraud, business email compromise, and e-commerce fraud constituted 75% of the cases investigated, according to Interpol.
Operation HAECHI IV also saw the issuance of two Purple Notices, cautioning Interpol member countries about emerging digital investment fraud practices. The first alert highlighted a “rug pull” scam in Korea involving the sale of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). The second Purple Notice warned about the misuse of AI and deep fake technology to lend credibility to scams by allowing criminals to hide their identities and impersonate family members, friends, or love interests.
In the UK, instances were reported where AI-generated synthetic content was used to deceive, defraud, harass, and extort victims, particularly through impersonation scams, online sexual blackmail, and investment fraud. Cases involved the impersonation of individuals known to the victims through voice cloning technology.
