Over the five months of the joint operation HAECHI VI, law enforcement officers from 40 countries on five continents seized more than $439 million in cash and cryptocurrencies related to cybercrime against thousands of victims worldwide. The operation lasted from April to August 2025 and targeted a wide range of cybercrime: voice phishing, investment and e-commerce fraud, online sextortion, BEC attacks, romance scams, and money laundering related to illegal online gambling.
Among the results: more than 68,000 bank accounts were blocked, 400 crypto wallets were seized.
Selected episodes:
Portugal — 45 suspects arrested for illegally accessing social security accounts and changing payment details, redirecting payments to vulnerable families.
Thailand — Police seize $6.6 million that an anonymous Japanese corporation transferred to the accounts of a transnational group (citizens of Thailand and West African countries).
Theos Badege, Head of INTERPOL’s Financial Crime & Anti-Corruption Centre, stressed that HAECHI demonstrates how global cooperation protects communities and financial systems, and called on more countries to join.
The HAECHI series runs for several years:
HAECHI V (July–November 2024) — $400 million in funds seized, 5,500+ arrests.
HAECHI IV (2023) — $300 million and 3,500+ arrests.
In 2025, Interpol also coordinated other joint actions: disrupting global info-theft operations, combating networks that created and distributed CSAM, and suppressing cross-border cyber gangs. The scale of $439 million confirms that financially motivated cybercrime remains a systemic threat, and coordination between law enforcement and banks directly affects the recovery of assets. Businesses should strengthen transfer tracking and KYC/AML controls, implement rapid mechanisms to freeze suspicious transactions and conduct educational campaigns for customers against BEC, phishing, and romance scams.
