Interpol recently revealed that it has seized $130 million worth of money and virtual assets from cybercriminals and money launderers.
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The police operation called “HAECHI III” lasted from June 28 to November 23, 2022 and resulted in the arrest of approximately a thousand people.
The Interpol statement says the operation led to 975 arrests and allowed 1,600 cases to be closed
Also, nearly 2,800 accounts related to banks and virtual asset providers that were used to launder proceeds from online.
The five main types of cybercrime that cost victims $2.7 million are: romance scams, voice phishing, sextortion, investment fraud, and money laundering related to illegal online gambling.
This action resulted in Interpol creating 95 alerts, while also identifying sixteen new crime trends. This will help law enforcement agencies around the world better target cybercriminals.
New trends in fraud involve romance and investment scams that malicious actors have renewed.
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Not only that, but INTERPOL also saw an increase in the number of scammers using encrypted apps to communicate with victims about investment schemes.
Operation HAECHI III has two reference points:
- The arrest of two Koreans in Greece and Italy, who had stolen $29,100,000 from 2,000 victims in Korea.
- The recent arrest of a group of criminals based in India who posed as INTERPOL officers and tricked victims into paying them nearly $160,000 in cryptocurrency.
INTERPOL's effectiveness was most recently demonstrated with the Anti-Money Laundering Rapid Response Protocol (ARRP) mechanism.
Thanks to ARRP, an Irish company that was defrauded by fraudsters (BEC) got back $1.25 billion. That was the total amount of money the company lost before ARRP got involved and helped it get its money back.
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ARRP has helped law enforcement officials recover $120,000,000 worth of assets since January 2022, when the trial began.
