Interpol busts 3,500 alleged cybercriminals and scammers, seizes $300 million of ill-gotten proceeds, and warns about the rise of the NFT 'rug pull'

A man reaches for dollars that will be forever out of reach.

The International Criminal Police Organisation better-known as Interpol has announced the arrest of 3,500 alleged cybercriminals and scammers, alongside the seizure of $300 million in cash and digital assets across 34 nations. The arrests marked the conclusion of what Interpol calls Operation HAECHI IV, a six-month investigation funded by South Korea.

The operation tackled seven particular types of cyberscam that Interpol lists as: "voice phishing, romance scams, online sextortion, investment fraud, money laundering associated with illegal online gambling, business email compromise fraud, and e-commerce fraud." It says that 82,112 suspicious bank accounts were blocked, and it seized $199 million in hard currency and $101 million in virtual assets. Interpol says the majority of cases (75%) involved investment fraud, business email compromise and e-commerce fraud.