Fraudsters targeting the British public will be hunted down by a
new INTERPOL Global Taskforce, launched at the Global Fraud
Summit.
Codenamed Operation Shadow Storm, the new taskforce will combine
the intelligence powers of INTERPOL's 196 member countries to
take the fight directly to fraudsters. Jointly developed by the
UK and INTERPOL, the new unit will target the scam compounds
driving a growing share of global fraud, with an initial focus on
dismantling criminal operations across South East Asia.
It comes as the UK led the convening of 40 ministers, over 100
countries and 300 industry leaders at the Global Fraud Summit in
Vienna to drive action against fraud, in response to new figures
showing that over two thirds of scams targeting the British
public originate from abroad.
Working across borders, investigators will pool intelligence to
trace where fraudsters are operating from and the bank accounts,
crypto wallets, phone numbers and social media profiles they use.
Under INTERPOL coordination, law enforcement agencies will move
quickly to disrupt operations at source – freezing bank accounts,
shutting down communication channels and carrying out coordinated
raids to bring scam networks to justice.
The summit brings together governments, law enforcement, banks
and tech giants to strengthen global cooperation to tackle fraud,
as criminals increasingly exploit online platforms to target
victims worldwide. Hosted by INTERPOL and the United Nations
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and sponsored by the UK,
the 2026 summit was the largest gathering of its kind.
A first-of-its-kind global partnership between governments and
major tech firms was also signed to drive the global response to
fraud online. Signatories pledged to share more intelligence to
better identify and act on emerging threats and coordinate to
disrupt scammers operations before they reach victims. Those
signed up include G7 countries, Singapore, South Korea, Japan,
Meta, Google, Amazon, Match Group, VMO2 Media and International
Banking Federation.
Minister responsible for Fraud, said:
Fraud is now a global crime run by organised networks operating
across borders and targeting victims at industrial scale. With
around two-thirds of fraud affecting the UK originating overseas,
we cannot tackle this threat alone.
The UK has driven global leadership to crackdown on scammers at
the Global Fraud Summit in Vienna.
Through a new taskforce that will disrupt and dismantle fraud
networks worldwide, and a first of its kind global public and
private sector partnership, we are protecting the British public
from our country's most common crime.
The new taskforce builds on recent international action taken by
the UK and partners to disrupt fraud networks operating overseas.
Agreements with Nigeria and Vietnam to share intelligence and
boost their law enforcement capability to go after fraudsters has
already resulted in arrests and the takedown of scam compounds in
the past year.
Earlier this year, a joint operation involving the National Crime
Agency, Meta and Nigerian authorities led to a scam centre being
taken down in Delta State, with multiple fraudsters arrested. In
a separate operation, international law enforcement partners
worked together to dismantle a fraud call centre in India, which
was responsible for costing UK victims nearly £400,000 before it
was shut down.
Nick Sharp, Deputy Director of the National Economic Crime Centre
at the National Crime Agency, said:
The Global Fraud Taskforce is an exciting and important step
forward in our fight to tackle transnational fraud networks on a
global scale. It will provide a platform for multilateral
cooperation with law enforcement around the world to better
target suspects and build on our strong public and private sector
relationships to disrupt money flows and stop fraudsters in their
tracks.
As these criminals continue to grow in sophistication and across
borders, it Is important law enforcement and industry works
together to fight this threat and protect the public.
John Brandolino, UNODC Acting Executive Director said:
Today, we are facing a very different kind of fraud; one that is
sophisticated, organized, and perpetrated across borders with
breath-taking speed.
We are seeing a global criminal ecosystem that requires different
skillsets and expertise to address – from tech companies, banks,
private sector stakeholders and governments – all of them with a
role to play.
This summit provides a unique setting to bring different
perspectives and this range of expertise together, and to begin
shaping a more coordinated global response.
The Global Fraud Summit builds on the launch of the Fraud Strategy 2026 to
2029 last week, which established a new online crime centre,
uniting government, police, intelligence agencies, banks and tech
firms to ramp up the disruption of fraudsters. Backed by £250
million, the new strategy sets out how the government will make
the UK the hardest place for fraudsters to operate, as one in
fourteen adults and one in four businesses have become victims.
