Police Seize 45,000 IP Addresses in Major Cybercrime Bust
▼ Summary
– Operation Synergia III, an Interpol-led global law enforcement action, sinkholed tens of thousands of IP addresses and seized servers linked to cybercrime.
– The operation, involving 72 countries, resulted in 94 arrests, 212 seized devices, and 110 suspects under investigation, with specific arrests detailed in Togo and Bangladesh.
– Chinese investigators in Macau identified over 33,000 phishing websites impersonating casinos and banks to steal credit card and personal information.
– This operation follows previous successful actions, including Synergia II and Synergia I, which led to numerous arrests and server takedowns.
– Interpol emphasizes that global cooperation is crucial to combat increasingly sophisticated cybercrime, as demonstrated by this and other coordinated operations like Red Card 2.0.
A major international police effort has successfully disrupted a vast network of cybercriminal activity, leading to dozens of arrests and the seizure of critical infrastructure. The operation, known as “Operation Synergia III,” was coordinated by Interpol and involved authorities from 72 countries. Over a six-month period, law enforcement agencies managed to sinkhole tens of thousands of IP addresses, confiscate hundreds of electronic devices and servers, and apprehend nearly one hundred suspects, with many more under active investigation.
The scope of the criminal schemes uncovered was extensive. In Togo, police arrested ten individuals running a fraud ring from a residential location. Their activities ranged from the technical hacking of social media accounts to elaborate social engineering ploys like romance scams and sextortion. Meanwhile, in Bangladesh, authorities took forty suspects into custody and seized 134 electronic devices linked to a wide array of scams, including fraudulent loan and job offers, identity theft, and credit card fraud.
A particularly significant discovery came from investigators in Macau, China, who identified more than 33,000 phishing and fraudulent websites. These sites were designed to mimic legitimate casinos, banks, government portals, and payment service providers with the sole purpose of stealing victims’ sensitive personal and financial data.
This latest crackdown builds on the success of previous initiatives. Operation Synergia II, conducted in 2024, resulted in 41 arrests and the seizure of over 1,000 servers connected to 22,000 IP addresses. The first phase of the Synergia operations identified an additional 70 suspects and dismantled 1,300 command-and-control servers used to manage ransomware, phishing, and malware attacks.
The recent surge in coordinated law enforcement actions extends beyond this single operation. In a separate Interpol-led effort across 16 African nations, police arrested 651 suspects and recovered more than $4.3 million in illicit funds. Other major initiatives, including Operation Serengeti and Operation Africa Cyber Surge, have similarly led to thousands of arrests and the dismantling of multimillion-dollar criminal enterprises on the continent.
Neal Jetton, Interpol’s Director of the Cybercrime Directorate, emphasized the importance of global collaboration in confronting these evolving threats. He stated that while cybercrime in 2026 has grown increasingly sophisticated and damaging, operations like Synergia III demonstrate the powerful impact of international partnership. Interpol continues to lead this fight by uniting police forces and private sector experts to take down criminal networks, disrupt emerging threats, and safeguard potential victims worldwide.
(Source: Bleeping Computer)
