Law enforcement from 30 countries, INTERPOL, the Global Anti-Scam Alliance and 13 technology and financial companies have spent three months targeting cross-border scam networks in an operation led by the United Arab Emirates Ministry of Interior. It identified more than USD 39 billion in funds and cryptocurrencies linked to scam activity, and the participants are working towards recovering those assets.
Operation Confrontation Ghost ran from 1 July to 30 September 2026 and focused on AI-enabled fraud, digital financial fraud and technology-facilitated sextortion. The results were presented in Vienna at a side-event of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime conference.
The figures given: more than 15,500 victims and 3,500 suspects identified, over 960 arrests, raids on 29 fraud centres, more than 570 social media accounts used to move money and manipulate victims shut down, and 4,126 bank accounts linked to fraud identified. Participants exchanged more than 9,000 pieces of intelligence and mapped how scam networks recruit victims and launder money across borders.
The private sector partners were Bayut, Crypto.com, Dubizzle, Feedzai, Ghostly Solutions, Group-IB, Huawei, Mastercard, Meiya Pico, Meta, Outseer, TikTok and Trend Micro. The 30 countries include the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, France, Italy, the Netherlands and the Republic of Korea.
Colonel Dana Humaid Al Marzouqi, Director General of the International Affairs Bureau at the UAE Ministry of Interior, said: "This first-of-its-kind initiative demonstrates how the UAE continues to drive practical international responses to evolving threats such as AI-enabled fraud and cross-border scams, strengthening collective resilience for all participating nations."
Monica Juma, Executive Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, commended the operation at the event. "I commend the United Arab Emirates for using their convening power and making this operation possible," she said.
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