Interpol Announces Arrest of 1,000 Individuals Linked to Cybercrime
Interpol has reported the successful completion of the international operation HAEICHI-II, which resulted in the coordinated arrest of 1,003 individuals involved in various cybercrimes. The suspects are connected to investment fraud, money laundering, illegal online gambling, and romance scams.
Details of Operation HAEICHI-II
Operation HAEICHI-II ran from June to September 2021 and followed the earlier HAEICHI-I operation, which took place from September 2020 to March 2021. The first operation involved over 40 law enforcement officers and was mainly focused on the Asia-Pacific region, resulting in around 500 arrests.
This time, HAEICHI-II included Angola, Brunei, Cambodia, Colombia, China, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, the Maldives, the Philippines, Romania, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Thailand, and Vietnam. Authorities reported seizing approximately $27 million and freezing 2,350 bank accounts linked to various online crimes.
New Cybercrime Trends and Notable Cases
According to Interpol’s official press release, the operation uncovered at least 10 new types of criminal activity, highlighting the constant evolution of cybercrime.
One notable case involved a Colombian textile company that fell victim to a BEC (Business Email Compromise) scam. In this classic scheme, criminals initiate correspondence with a company employee, gain their trust, and convince them to take actions that harm the company or its clients—usually by transferring money to an account controlled by the criminals. Often, hacked accounts of other employees or email addresses that closely resemble official company addresses are used to carry out the scam.
In the Colombian case, the criminals posed as legitimate representatives and demanded that two payments of $8 million each be sent to accounts in Chinese banks. Interpol’s intervention helped recover 94% of the stolen funds, saving the company from bankruptcy.
In another incident, scammers tricked a Slovenian firm into transferring $800,000 to money mule accounts in China. Interpol, in cooperation with Beijing authorities, also helped the victims recover nearly the entire amount.
Emerging Threats: Malware and Pop Culture
Interpol’s report also notes a new trend among scammers: using the popularity of the Netflix series “Squid Game” as a theme for spreading malware. Hackers disguise malicious apps as mobile games based on the show. In reality, these apps automatically subscribe users to premium services, generating profits for the scammers through affiliate partners whose services are “sold” in this way.
Interpol’s Statement and the Importance of Cooperation
“Online scams, such as those using malicious apps, are evolving as quickly as the cultural trends that criminals exploit for their own gain,” said Jose De Gracia, Assistant Director of Criminal Networks. “Sharing information about emerging threats is vital for police to protect victims of financial crimes online. It also shows that no country is alone in this fight. Operation HAEICHI-II demonstrates that we can successfully counter this threat if we work together.”