Interpol arrests 5,800 people in worldwide fraud operation

The operation, carried out between January and April, which involved police forces from 97 countries, particularly targeted fraudulent schemes that take advantage of people's trust to obtain money or confidential information.

These are, for example, the diversion of professional emails, 'sextortion', online sentimental fraud, identity theft or investment-related fraud, detailed in a statement from Interpol, which coordinated this action called "First Light 2026".

The very high number of identified victims (142,000) "highlights the extent to which" this type of fraud "has become a large-scale transnational threat, affecting individuals, companies and governments", says Interpol.

The international criminal police organization based in Lyon reports, for example, that it has arrested 82 people in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland) and "dismantled a criminal network that managed illegal online gambling and laundered money" from "sophisticated identity theft" fraud.

The operation also led to the seizure of "a realistic replica of a Brazilian police station, with fake uniforms": "posing as the Brazilian Federal Police through video calls, the scammers convinced victims that they were the target of a crime, leading them to transfer funds to put them 'safely', funds that were later diverted".

Another case cited: a raw materials trading company based in Singapore, targeted by criminals posing as a supplier; or also, in Macau, fake public officials who convinced a victim to transfer money under the pretext of a fraud investigation, having been arrested shortly before she transferred around 372,000 US dollars (1.9 million reais).

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