Police to Conduct Joint Cross-Border Economic Crime Crackdown with Interpol for 4 Months

A Total of 25 Countries Including South Korea Participate
Voice Phishing, Romance Scam, Investment Fraud, Mokcam Phishing, etc.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The National Police Agency announced on the 4th that it will conduct a joint crackdown with Interpol on transnational economic crimes for four months from this month until October 31. A total of 25 countries, including South Korea, 11 Asian countries, 8 European countries, 4 African countries, and 2 American countries, will participate in this joint operation. The target crimes include voice phishing, romance scams, investment fraud, body cam phishing, and money laundering.

In this crackdown, the 25 participating countries, including South Korea, plan to mutually share case information and methods, and carry out joint raids on overseas call center bases. They will also jointly respond with crackdowns and forced repatriations of major suspects, as well as freezing and recovering criminal proceeds. Interpol will analyze related intelligence and host operational meetings among member countries to track and capture major fugitives. It will also be responsible for comprehensive analysis and feedback on the crackdown results.

This joint crackdown is a measure of international cooperation to respond to transnational economic crimes such as voice phishing. Since March 2020, South Korea has funded Interpol with 570 million KRW annually, totaling 1.7 billion KRW, to promote joint crackdowns every year. In the first year of the joint crackdown in 2020, 10 countries participated, and last year the number of participating countries more than doubled to 22. South Korea achieved results by repatriating 86 major offenders and freezing 2.3 billion KRW in criminal proceeds during the past two joint crackdowns. Across all participating countries, a total of 1,588 people were repatriated and 121.6 billion KRW in criminal proceeds were frozen.

The National Police Agency stated, "Through collaboration between the National Investigation Headquarters and Interpol in each country, we will strengthen international cooperation to not only jointly capture major economic crime suspects such as those involved in voice phishing but also to recover victim funds."

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