In a major international crackdown codenamed Operation Synergia III, law enforcement agencies from 72 countries sinkholed more than 45,000 malicious IP addresses linked to global cybercrime.

The operation, led by INTERPOL, targeted infrastructure used for phishing, romance scams, and credit card fraud between July 2025 and January 2026.

Key Results of Operation Synergia III

• IP Addresses & Servers: More than 45,000 malicious IP addresses were sinkholed and dozens of servers were seized.
• Arrests: Authorities made 94 arrests and identified another 110 suspects who remain under investigation.
• Device Seizures: A total of 212 electronic devices were confiscated during raids.
• Regional Impact:
  • Bangladesh: Police arrested 40 suspects and seized 134 devices related to loan scams and identity theft.
  • Togo: Authorities dismantled a fraud ring, arresting 10 individuals involved in hacking and social engineering.
  • Macau (China): Investigators identified over 33,000 phishing and fraudulent websites.

Collaborative Effort

The operation was supported by private sector partners including Group-IB, S2W, and Trend Micro, who provided critical threat intelligence to help map the criminal ecosystems. This third iteration of Operation Synergia showed a massive scale-up from previous years, growing from 1,300 IP seizures in its first phase to over 45,000 in this latest effort.