INTERPOL Operation Synergia III: 94 Arrests, 45K IPs Taken Down

INTERPOL announced the results of Operation Synergia III on March 13, revealing a global crackdown that led to 94 arrests and the takedown of 45,000 malicious IP addresses across 72 countries. It's the largest coordinated action against cybercrime infrastructure this year.

Operation Details

Operation Synergia III ran from July 18, 2025, through January 31, 2026—a seven-month effort coordinated by INTERPOL with support from private sector partners including Group-IB, Trend Micro, and S2W.

The operation targeted infrastructure supporting:

• Phishing campaigns
• Romance scams
• Credit card fraud
• Loan and employment scams
• Identity theft networks
• Sextortion operations

INTERPOL's announcement detailed seizures of 212 electronic devices and servers, with 110 additional suspects still under investigation.

Key Regional Actions

Bangladesh saw the largest single-country impact: 40 suspects arrested and 134 electronic devices seized. Authorities disrupted networks running loan scams, job fraud, and credit card theft operations targeting victims across Asia.

Macao authorities identified over 33,000 phishing and fraudulent websites impersonating casinos, banks, government portals, and payment services. These sites harvested credentials and tricked victims into depositing money.

Togo arrested 10 individuals operating fraud networks.

The geographic spread—from Southeast Asia to West Africa to Europe—reflects how cybercrime infrastructure distributes itself to evade any single jurisdiction's enforcement.

Evolution of the Synergia Operations

This is the third iteration of Operation Synergia. The 2023 original targeted phishing infrastructure. Synergia II in 2024 expanded to malware distribution networks. Synergia III broadened scope further to include romance scams and credential theft operations.

The progressive expansion reflects a maturing approach: rather than one-off takedowns, INTERPOL is building sustained pressure on cybercriminal infrastructure categories.

Impact and Limitations

Takedown numbers look impressive—45,000 IPs is significant infrastructure. But cybercrime is a hydra: new domains and IPs spin up faster than law enforcement can dismantle them.

The arrests matter more. Taking 94 operators off the street disrupts institutional knowledge, operational security practices, and trust networks that criminal enterprises depend on. Even temporary disruption forces remaining actors to rebuild relationships and verify new partners.

We've seen how criminal networks adapt to enforcement pressure—leadership turnover, rebranding, and infrastructure shifts are common responses. Synergia III's value lies in forcing those adaptations repeatedly.

Private Sector Collaboration

Group-IB, Trend Micro, and S2W provided threat intelligence that helped identify targets. This public-private model has become standard for large-scale cybercrime operations—law enforcement brings arrest authority, while private sector provides the visibility into criminal infrastructure that no single agency has.

For security teams, this highlights the value of threat intelligence sharing. The same indicators that helped Synergia III could protect your organization if fed into detection systems.

What This Means for Defenders

Operation Synergia III won't eliminate phishing or fraud. But it raises operational costs for attackers and demonstrates that even distributed, cross-border operations face consequences.

Organizations should use this moment to reinforce phishing awareness training—employees who can recognize social engineering attempts remain the best defense against the fraud techniques Synergia III targeted.

For the latest on law enforcement actions against cybercrime and ongoing operations, we'll continue coverage as more details emerge from the 110 ongoing investigations.