The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) published its 2026 Global Financial Fraud Threat Assessment, warning that financial fraud is increasingly a central, fast-evolving transnational crime that intersects with organised crime, human trafficking and cybercrime. The assessment highlights AI-enabled fraud as a major accelerator, estimating it is 4.5 times more profitable than traditional methods and noting the emergence of “agentic AI” that can autonomously run end-to-end fraud campaigns. It also flags sextortion being integrated into romance and investment scams, growing collaboration between criminal networks and specialised money-laundering groups, and findings in parts of Africa that terrorist groups use fraud schemes, particularly crypto-based scams, for funding. Scam centres are reported as global in footprint, involving hundreds of thousands of individuals, including victims who are trafficked and forced to conduct online fraud; against this backdrop, INTERPOL reports a 54% rise in fraud-related Notices and Diffusions since 2024 and support to member countries in more than 1,500 transnational fraud cases involving lost assets valued at USD 1.1 billion. To disrupt scam centres and the financial infrastructure around them, INTERPOL is launching Operation Shadow Storm, a new international task force funded by the United Kingdom’s Home Office that will use INTERPOL tools including I-GRIP, a stop-payment mechanism, and will also target links to cybercrime and human trafficking for forced criminality. In parallel, it is issuing new guidelines on establishing and operating a National Anti-Scam Centre, drawing on successful law enforcement approaches; the threat assessment, task force and guidelines were launched alongside the Global Fraud Summit on 16 and 17 March, co-organised with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
INTERPOL 2026-03-16
International Criminal Police Organization INTERPOL releases 2026 fraud threat assessment and launches Operation Shadow Storm against scam centres
INTERPOL's 2026 Global Financial Fraud Threat Assessment highlights AI-enabled fraud, 4.5 times more profitable than traditional methods, and the integration of sextortion into scams. To combat these threats, INTERPOL is launching Operation Shadow Storm, an international task force funded by the UK's Home Office, and issuing guidelines for National Anti-Scam Centres. These initiatives were announced at the Global Fraud Summit, co-organised with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.