The United Arab Emirates’ Interior Ministry led a three-month operation involving law enforcement in 30 countries, INTERPOL and 13 technology and finance partners, including Meta, TikTok and Mastercard. It targeted AI-enabled fraud, digital financial fraud and technology-facilitated sexual extortion.
The ministry says the operation identified more than 15,500 victims and 3,500 suspects, leading to over 960 arrests and searches at 29 fraud centres. Participants also identified more than $39 billion in funds and cryptocurrency linked to fraud; efforts to recover those assets are ongoing.
Why it matters
For people targeted by online scams, the reported arrests and account closures show coordinated cross-border enforcement, but the source does not say how much of the identified $39 billion has been recovered.
