Asian Police Seize $83 Million in Operation Against Online Financial Crime
ISOBEL VAN HAGEN, 01 June 2021
Focusing on romance scams, online sextortion, investment fraud, voice phishing and money laundering associated with illegal online gambling, police in nine Asian countries arrested more than 500 suspects and seized US$83 million, Interpol said on Thursday.
Authorities worldwide have repeatedly warned that online fraud is continuing to increase and have stepped up joint efforts to fight it.
This operation, codenamed “HAECHI-I,” assembled law enforcement across Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Korea, Laos, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Between September 2020 and March 2021, they opened more than 1,400 investigations of online fraud and while many of the cases remain ongoing, Interpol said, 892 cases have been solved.
In total, 585 people were arrested and more than 1,600 bank accounts around the world were frozen throughout the course of the operation.
“Online fraudsters often attempt to exploit the borderless nature of the internet by targeting victims in other countries or transferring their illicit funds abroad,” Ilana de Wild, Interpol’s Director of Organized and Emerging Crime, said in a statement.
“The results of Operation HAECHI-I demonstrate that online financial crime is fundamentally global and that only through close international cooperation can we effectively combat these criminals,” she added.
In one case, back in February, a Korean company was approached by what they thought was a trading partner requesting payment of a series of invoices. The bank details on the invoices, however, had been fraudulently changed.
