Interpol Seizes IDR 5.3 Trillion in Global Crackdown on Social Engineering Scams
Interpol has arrested 5,811 people and seized illegal assets worth US$293 million (approximately IDR 5.3 trillion) in a large-scale operation involving nearly 100 countries and territories, including Indonesia. The operation dismantled a transnational online fraud network that utilised social engineering to drain victims’ funds.
Operation First Light 2026 took place from 15 January to 30 April 2026. Interpol led the operation with a focus on eradicating social engineering-based fraud and the money laundering practices that support these activities.
Social engineering is a method that exploits a victim’s trust to obtain money or confidential information. The modus operandi used includes business email compromise, sextortion, romance scams, identity theft, and fraudulent investments.
After gathering and exchanging intelligence, law enforcement officers from participating countries conducted operations for over three months. They pursued high-value targets, raided identified locations, blocked and froze bank accounts and crypto-asset wallets, issued Interpol Notices and Diffusions, and utilised the INTERPOL Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) system to swiftly halt the flow of illicit funds.
During the operation, Interpol identified more than 142,000 victims worldwide. The findings indicate that social engineering-based fraud has evolved into a transnational threat targeting individuals, businesses, and governments.
In addition to arresting thousands of perpetrators, the operation also recorded several other achievements, namely analysing 152,808 cases, blocking 31,014 bank accounts, resolving 23,715 cases, identifying 15,606 suspects, and issuing 99 Notices and Diffusions.
Interpol’s Director of the Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, Tomonobu Kaya, stated that social engineering-based fraud syndicates remain a serious threat to the global community.
‘Social engineering-based fraud continues to be a significant threat to our societies. Criminal syndicates exploit human psychology to manipulate their victims, and no country can remain safe unless all countries have the capability and commitment to fight it together,’ Kaya said, as quoted from an official Interpol report on its website.
He added that Interpol is committed to helping its member countries build comprehensive and coordinated strategies to combat cyber-enabled financial crime, organised criminal networks, and the money laundering practices that fund them.
During the operation, authorities in various countries also succeeded in uncovering a number of major cases. In Thailand, for example, police arrested two individuals suspected of involvement in a money laundering network linked to romance scams. The illicit funds were diverted into various cryptocurrencies through a cross-blockchain token exchange mechanism to obscure the transaction trail. The investigation revealed that one of the suspects, who was only 20 years old, managed a digital wallet that processed transactions exceeding US$122.5 million in just 10 months.
Operation First Light 2026 was funded by China’s Ministry of Public Security and supported by three regional police organisations, namely ASEANAPOL, GCCPOL, and Europol.