AI · Decrypt
First Light, funded by China's Ministry of Public Security and backed by regional policing bodies
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Is only one campaign in a widening effort, with Interpol's tally of more than 142,000 victims in a single four-month window illustrating the scale of the challenge facing law enforcement.
Key facts
- A 20-year-old's cryptocurrency wallet moved more than $122.5 million in 10 months as part of a scheme to launder money stolen from romance-scam victims, Interpol said, in one of the standout cases
- In total, authorities made 5,811 arrests, intercepted $293 million in illicit assets and identified more than 142,000 victims, Interpol said, while blocking 31,014 bank accounts and analyzing more
- 5,800+ arrests, USD 293 million intercepted across 97 countries
- Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimated that crypto scam inflows surged in 2025, with the average scam payment more than tripling to $2,764 as fraudsters folded AI, phishing kits and layered
Summary
Thai police arrested two people over a scheme that laundered romance-scam proceeds through crypto, using cross-chain swaps to hide the trail, Interpol said. The arrests came out of Operation First Light 2026, a four-month push across 97 countries and territories that led to 5,811 arrests and the interception of $293 million in illicit assets. Interpol said it identified more than 142,000 victims and blocked over 31,000 bank accounts, using its the reporter-GRIP stop-payment tool to check the flows of fiat and virtual assets. A 20-year-old's cryptocurrency wallet moved more than $122.5 million in 10 months as part of a scheme to launder money stolen from romance-scam victims, Interpol said, in one of the standout cases from a sweeping global anti-fraud operation. Thai police made two arrests in the case, according to Interpol, which said the operators funneled the proceeds into a mix of cryptocurrencies and used cross-chain token swaps, shifting funds between different blockchains, to obscure where the money went.