Over $400M nabbed in global cyber fraud clampdown

Interpol has announced the seizure of $439 million in cash and cryptocurrency obtained from business email compromise, voice phishing, online extortion, romance scams, investment fraud, and online gambling-related money laundering activities as part of Operation HAECHI VI, which ran between April and August and involved law enforcement from over 40 countries and territories, reports The Record, a news site by cybersecurity firm Recorded Future.

While Interpol has not provided the total number of arrests as part of the global crackdown, it noted that Portuguese authorities have jailed 45 individuals involved in a "sprawling syndicate."

Aside from a Royal Thai Police effort that sequestered $6.6 million from an advanced BEC scam that targeted Thais and West Africans, South Korean national police and United Arab Emirates authorities have also seized nearly $3.9 million from a fraudulent Dubai-based bank account as part of the operation, according to Interpol.

Such a development comes after over $400 million in cybercrime assets were nabbed and 5,500 individuals were arrested in Operation HAECHI V last November.