FBI launches Operation Riptide to disrupt $20B cybercrime

The FBI announced Operation Riptide on June 9, a 60-day operation using all 56 U.S. field offices and the bureau’s global attaché network to target services used in large-scale online fraud. The campaign focuses on hosting networks, encrypted messaging platforms and cryptocurrency laundering channels rather than only pursuing individual perpetrators. The FBI has executed search warrants, obtained indictments, made arrests across multiple countries and seized millions in cryptocurrency as part of the effort. The campaign implements Executive Order 14390 and the administration’s National Cyber Strategy, the agency added. U.S. consumers filed more than 1 million complaints last year and reported over $20 billion in losses to online fraud, a 26% increase from the prior year. Authorities said the scale of those losses informed the decision to target the infrastructure and services that enable mass fraud. The operation was timed ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Security analysts identify major sporting events as periods of increased fraud risk because millions of fans go online simultaneously. Reported fraud tied to football events has risen this year: ticket scams increased 36%, and criminals sold counterfeit passes and fake cryptocurrency fan tokens to supporters. The Financial Conduct Authority in the U.K. has warned that some crypto sponsorships can expose retail fans to misleading promotions. Operation Riptide builds on recent cross-border law enforcement actions. In a joint operation with Indonesian authorities, agents dismantled a phishing network tied to roughly $20 million in losses and about 17,000 victims. U.S. courts sentenced operators of a domestic crypto Ponzi in Ohio, and federal authorities last year seized more than $15 billion in bitcoin linked to an alleged Cambodian crypto fraud network. In a public statement the FBI described the campaign as “an ongoing, coordinated law enforcement campaign targeting cybercriminal actors and the key services they rely on-their infrastructure, their tools and services, their communications platforms, and their money.” The bureau will assess results over the 60-day window and continue coordination with domestic and international partners. The FBI framed the immediate objective as increasing the operational cost for criminal networks and reducing opportunities for fraudsters to exploit high-traffic events and widely used online services.