The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) says 5,811 suspects have been arrested over “social engineering scams” during an operation involving 97 countries.
In a statement published on Interpol’s website, the global policing organisation said the raids, codenamed “Operation First Light 2026”, were carried out between January 15 and April 30, 2026.
Interpol said the operation “focused on combatting social engineering scams and associated money laundering activities”.
According to the organisation, the social engineering-related fraud includes business email compromise, sextortion, and romance, impersonation, and investment scams.
Interpol said illicit assets worth $293 million were “intercepted”.
The organisation added that during the operation, 142,000 victims were identified, 152,808 cases were analysed, 31,014 bank accounts were blocked, 23,715 cases were solved, and 15,606 suspects were identified.
“Operation First Light 2026 (15 Jan 2026 – 30 April 2026), coordinated by INTERPOL, focused on combatting social engineering scams
