Law enforcement agencies around the world have arrested about 2,000 people and seized $50 million in a sweeping operation crackdown of social engineering and other scam operations around the globe.
In the latest action in the ongoing “First Light”, an operation Interpol has coordinated annually since 2014, law enforcement officials from 76 countries raided 1,770 call centers suspected of running fraudulent operations such as telephone and romance scams, email deception scams, and financial crimes.
Among the 2,000 people arrested in Operation First Light 2022 were call center operators and fraudsters, and money launderers. Interpol stated that the operation also saw 4,000 bank accounts frozen and 3,000 suspects identified.
We’re not going to be able to arrest ourselves out of this problem
“The international nature of these crimes can only be addressed successfully by law enforcement working together beyond borders, which is why Interpol is critical to providing police the world over with a coordinated tactical response,” Rory Corcoran, director of the org’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre (IFCACC), said in a statement. “Telecom and BEC [business email compromise] fraud are sources of serious concern for many countries and have a hugely damaging effect on economies, businesses and communities.”
The operation is the latest example of governments and law enforcement agencies around the world pushing to crack down on growing cyberthreats, from ransomware and…
