Morocco has joined an international campaign led by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to combat online scams, financial fraud and other forms of technology-enabled crime, as investigators identified more than $39 billion in funds and cryptocurrencies suspected of being connected to fraudulent activities.
The operation, known as Confrontation Ghost, brought together law enforcement agencies from 30 countries, alongside INTERPOL, the Global Anti-Scam Alliance and 13 private-sector partners from the technology and financial industries. The campaign ran from July 1 to September 30, 2026, under the leadership of the UAE Ministry of Interior.
The findings were presented in Vienna, Austria, during an event held alongside the 13th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. Officials used the gathering to highlight the importance of international cooperation in responding to increasingly sophisticated criminal networks operating across borders.
Morocco’s participation places it among the countries working together to identify suspects, disrupt criminal activity and trace money moving through digital platforms and financial systems.
International operation targets AI-powered scams
Confrontation Ghost focused on three major areas of digital crime: fraud involving artificial intelligence, financial scams conducted through digital channels, and online sexual extortion.
Criminal networks increasingly exploit online services to impersonate trusted individuals or organisations, deceive victims into transferring money and conceal the proceeds through bank accounts and cryptocurrency transactions. Artificial intelligence can make some of these schemes more convincing, complicating efforts to identify fraudulent communications and track those responsible.
The international operation aimed to strengthen cooperation between national authorities, financial institutions and technology companies so that information about suspicious activity could be shared more quickly.
According to figures released by the UAE Ministry of Interior, the campaign helped prevent more than 123 million online fraud attempts worldwide. Investigators also identified thousands of victims and suspects while taking action against accounts and locations allegedly used for criminal activities.
The results underline the scale of the challenge facing governments as fraudsters exploit the speed and reach of digital technology to target people in different countries.
More than 960 arrests recorded during the campaign
The three-month operation produced several major enforcement results, according to information released by the UAE authorities.
Investigators identified more than 15,500 victims and over 3,500 suspects. The coordinated effort also resulted in more than 960 arrests and searches at 29 locations described as fraud centres.
Authorities also took steps to disrupt the online infrastructure allegedly used by criminal networks. More than 570 social media accounts linked to fraudulent activity were shut down, while 4,126 bank accounts associated with suspected fraud were identified for action.
Participating agencies exchanged more than 9,000 pieces of intelligence to help establish how offenders approached victims, moved illicit funds and operated across national borders.
The figures offer an indication of how international coordination can help investigators connect activities that might otherwise appear to be isolated cases of online fraud.
However, identifying suspicious funds does not mean that the entire amount has already been recovered. Authorities and their partners are continuing efforts to trace and recover the assets linked to the criminal activity.
Morocco works alongside 29 other countries
Morocco participated alongside countries from several regions, reflecting the international nature of the campaign. The participating states included the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, Canada, Japan, China, France, Kenya, Senegal, the Netherlands and South Korea.
The involvement of countries across five continents was important because online fraud schemes can involve victims in one country, perpetrators in another and financial transactions routed through multiple jurisdictions.
Cooperation allows law enforcement agencies to share information, identify connections between investigations and follow suspicious financial flows beyond their own borders.
For Morocco, involvement in the initiative also forms part of a wider international effort to respond to cybercrime and financial offences that increasingly rely on digital tools.
The operation’s reported findings do not, however, specify how much of the $39 billion in identified assets was directly linked to cases investigated by Moroccan authorities.
Technology companies play a role in fighting fraud
Private-sector cooperation was another major component of Confrontation Ghost. Thirteen companies and organisations from the technology and financial sectors contributed to the initiative.
Among the participating companies were Meta, TikTok, Huawei, Mastercard, Crypto.com, Trend Micro and Group-IB. Their involvement brought together expertise in social media platforms, payment systems, cybersecurity and digital fraud detection.
These partnerships can help investigators identify suspicious online behaviour, detect fraudulent accounts and improve the monitoring of financial transactions.
The UAE authorities also reported that the initiative helped strengthen the security of more than four billion financial transactions per month through tokenisation technology, which replaces sensitive payment information with a substitute identifier to reduce exposure of the original data.
The growing use of digital payments and online services has created new opportunities for businesses and consumers, but it has also expanded the potential reach of organised fraud.
Effective responses therefore require cooperation between public institutions and companies that operate the platforms and financial systems criminals may exploit.
UN officials welcome international cooperation
The results were announced at a UAE-led side event in Vienna titled From Cooperation to Action. The discussion focused on turning information-sharing agreements into practical enforcement measures and building stronger partnerships between governments, international organisations and private companies.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime welcomed the initiative, recognising the importance of coordinated action against cross-border criminal networks.
UN officials have also highlighted concerns about the use of artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies and digital platforms to facilitate fraud and hide the movement of illicit money.
The operation’s organisers presented it as an example of how coordinated investigations can bring together intelligence and technical capabilities from different jurisdictions.
The next challenge is to sustain that cooperation beyond a single campaign, particularly as criminal groups change their methods and adopt new technologies.
Asset recovery remains a key priority
Although the identification of more than $39 billion in funds and cryptocurrencies represents a significant development, the recovery process may require further investigations and legal proceedings across multiple jurisdictions.
Authorities must establish the links between suspected criminal activity and individual assets before taking the appropriate legal steps to seize or recover them.
The operation’s longer-term success will therefore depend not only on arrests and the disruption of online networks, but also on whether investigators can recover illicit proceeds and prevent the same groups from continuing their activities.
For Morocco and the other participating countries, Confrontation Ghost highlights the importance of international cooperation in addressing a form of crime that rarely respects national boundaries.
As online scams become more sophisticated, governments, financial institutions and technology companies face increasing pressure to strengthen their defences and protect people from financial loss and digital exploitation.
