FBI wraps up 60-day Operation Riptide, seizing crypto and dismantling global cyber-crime networks

Operation Riptide, a 60-day FBI initiative begun in June, targeted cybercriminal networks that defrauded U.S. citizens of more than $20 billion in the prior year. Using artificial-intelligence tools, expanded intelligence sharing and coordination with foreign partners, agents seized millions of dollars in illegal cryptocurrency and dismantled infrastructure worldwide, including a cloud account used by subsidiaries of Cambodia’s Huione Group to launder crypto proceeds.

A joint effort with Google and Black Lotus Labs resulted in the technical takedown of Outsider, a Chinese phishing-as-a-service platform serving victims in the United States and at least 54 other countries. The operation also produced arrests such as a member of the pro-Russia hacktivist group Cyber Army of Russia Reborn, and led to convictions in cargo theft, romance-fraud, ATM jackpotting, and a VoIP-based scheme run by Barry Augustinsky. FBI officials highlighted AI-driven advances that have made scams harder to detect, and pledged continued pressure on transnational cyber-crime networks.