The five-month Operation HAECHI V (July - November 2024) targeted seven types of cyber-enabled frauds: voice phishing, romance scams, online sextortion, investment fraud, illegal online gambling, business email compromise fraud and e-commerce fraud.

As part of the operation, Korean authorities, in tandem with authorities in Beijing successfully dismantled a sprawling voice phishing syndicate responsible for financial losses totalling the equivalent of USD 1,100 million and affecting over 1,900 victims. The organisation’s sophisticated modus operandi included masquerading as law enforcement officials and using counterfeit identification. The operation led to the arrest of at least 27 members of the organized criminal group, with 19 individuals subsequently indicted.

INTERPOL also issued a Purple Notice during Operation HAECHI V to warn countries about an increasingly widespread cryptocurrency fraud practice involving stablecoin. Member countries were alerted to the “USDT Token Approval Scam” which allows fraudsters to access and control victims’ cryptocurrency wallets. The two-step approach first lures in victims using romance baiting techniques, instructing them to buy popular Tether stablecoins (USDT Tokens) via a legitimate platform. Once the scammers have gained their trust, the victims are provided with a phishing link claiming to allow them to set up their investment account. In reality, by clicking they authorise full access to the scammers, who can then transfer funds out of their wallet without the victim’s knowledge.

I-GRIP, Interpol's active intervention strategy to block suspicious funds in transit.

In parallel with the operation, financial crime specialists from INTERPOL worked with police investigators and financial institutions in over 80 countries to strengthen use of INTERPOL’s Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP).

This stop-payment mechanism helps countries work together to rapidly intercept stolen funds and played an instrumental part in Operation HAECHI V.

In one major I-GRIP-enabled win, the Singapore Police Force used the tool to rapidly request assistance from authorities in Timor Leste when a commodity firm in Singapore fell victim to a business email compromise fraud. The firm was tricked into transferring USD 42.3 million to a fake supplier's bank account in Timor Leste, where authorities were able to intercept USD 39.3 million in the bank account. A total of seven suspects were arrested and further investigations also led to the recovery of an additional USD 2.6 million, as well as the discovery that part of the illicit funds had already been transferred from Timor Leste to Indonesia. Further investigations by the three jurisdictions are being coordinated by INTERPOL and steps are being taken to return the stolen funds to the victim in Singapore.

In Guernsey, a United Kingdom territory, an I-GRIP awareness session led directly to a significant breakthrough. Immediately after the session, the Guernsey Financial Intelligence Unit worked with UK authorities to submit an I-GRIP request to Portugal seeking to intercept over GBP 2 million (USD 2.5 million) in funds arising from business email compromise fraud. Rapid communication with Portuguese police authorities via I-GRIP meant the money was intercepted and subsequently returned to the victim in full.

HAECHI operations are supported financially by Korea.

HAECHI V participating countries, territories and regions: Albania, Argentina, Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Cayman Islands (UK), China, France, Ghana, Hong Kong (China), India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Liechtenstein, Macao (China), Malaysia, Maldives, Mauritius, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Timor Leste, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Viet Nam.