Bringing together specialized police units from 20 countries, Operation HAECHI-II targeted those involved in online fraud, romance scams, investment fraud and money laundering.
HAECHI-II is the second operation in a three-year long project designed to stop cyber financial crime – particularly cybercrime supported by the Republic of Korea. This operation is the first one that is global in scope that included the participation of INTERPOL member countries throughout the world.
This effort was massively successful. According to INTERPOL’s news release about the operation, it resulted in:
- The arrest of 1,003 individuals
- The successful closing of 1,660 cases
- 2,350 bank accounts linked to the illicit proceeds of online financial crime were blocked
- $27 Million in funds was intercepted
- 10 new criminal modus operandi were identified
It’s not clear from the press release whether heads of cybercrime were arrested or if the arrests were merely minions, but the notable arrest of over 1000 cybercriminals is hopefully enough to get the attention of those thinking about getting into the cybercrime game with the rampant amount of “as a Service” type of offerings on the Dark Web.
The sheer number of arrests should also place a spotlight on just how massive the enemy is to your organization’s cybersecurity efforts. While I applaud INTERPOL’s efforts, it’s far more likely this is merely a dent in the mass number of individuals participating in cybercrime in one way or another. I believe it’s imperative to remain vigilant with Security Awareness Training, as there are still countless threat actors that remain operational that have yet to be brought to justice.
