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INTERPOL’s HAECHI-II Operation: 1,003 Arrests and Nearly $27 Million Intercepted

INTERPOL reported that its June–September 2021 HAECHI-II operation targeting online fraud and related money laundering led to 1,003 arrests and nearly USD 27 million intercepted.
From TheFinanceBase Team2 min to read
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INTERPOL said its June–September 2021 Operation HAECHI-II led to 1,003 arrests and the interception of nearly USD 27 million in illicit funds. The four-month crackdown targeted cyber-enabled financial crime, including online fraud and related money laundering; INTERPOL announced the results on 26 November 2021.

What was Operation HAECHI-II?

HAECHI-II was the second operation in a three-year project against cyber-enabled financial crime supported by the Republic of Korea. INTERPOL described it as the project’s first operation with global scope. Specialized police units from 20 countries participated alongside Hong Kong and Macao, making 22 jurisdictions in INTERPOL’s count. The operation brought together jurisdictions on every continent, according to INTERPOL’s announcement.

The operation ran from June to September 2021. Its figures are INTERPOL-reported operational results, not independently audited totals.

What did INTERPOL report?

Measure HAECHI-II result reported by INTERPOL
Arrests 1,003
Cases closed 1,660
Bank accounts linked to illicit proceeds blocked 2,350
Illicit funds intercepted Nearly USD 27 million

These are separate measures: arrests and cases closed do not establish that every participant was arrested, and blocked accounts are not the same as funds seized or returned to victims. INTERPOL reported the nearly USD 27 million as funds intercepted during the operation; it is not a measure of total cybercrime losses or a stated amount recovered by victims. The figures appear in INTERPOL’s 26 November 2021 release.

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Which crimes did the operation target?

HAECHI-II focused on online fraud and related financial crime, including romance scams, investment fraud, and money laundering associated with illegal online gambling. INTERPOL’s release does not provide a complete offense breakdown for all 1,003 arrests, so the total should not be treated as a count for any one scam type.

How did investigators coordinate across borders?

Rapid stop-payment requests

During the operation, INTERPOL piloted an Anti-Money Laundering Rapid Response Protocol (ARRP) to help authorities make rapid stop-payment requests. INTERPOL said the protocol proved critical to successful interceptions in several cases, but did not state how much of the nearly USD 27 million was attributable to it.

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Notices and emerging methods

INTERPOL reported issuing more than 50 notices and identifying 10 new criminal modus operandi. The notices supported international information-sharing; they should not be confused with arrests or with a count of additional suspects.

What does the *Squid Game*-branded app example show?

One Colombian-requested Purple Notice described a malicious app that used branding from the television series Squid Game. INTERPOL said the app could steal billing information and subscribe users to premium services without explicit approval. This was an illustrative case, not an indication that all arrests involved apps or that the example accounted for a stated share of the intercepted funds. The case is included in INTERPOL’s operation report.

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How should the $27 million figure be understood?

The headline figure is nearly USD 27 million intercepted in connection with HAECHI-II, not the total amount victims lost to online fraud, an annual global cybercrime estimate, or a published total of money repaid to victims. INTERPOL’s release distinguishes intercepted funds from the 2,350 linked bank accounts it said were blocked. Without a published breakdown, it is not possible to attribute a particular dollar amount to any one country, scam category, or investigative tool.

At the time of the announcement, INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock said: “The results of Operation HAECHI-II show that the surge in online financial crime generated by the COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of waning,” INTERPOL reported. That was his assessment in November 2021, not a current measurement of crime levels.

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