FBI launches Operation Riptide targeting fraud networks

The FBI has launched Operation Riptide, a 60-day global campaign to disrupt the hosting networks, encrypted messaging platforms and cryptocurrency laundering channels used by cybercriminals. The FBI reported Americans filed more than 1 million complaints last year, recording over $20 billion in losses from online fraud, a 26% increase from the prior year.

All 56 FBI field offices and the agency’s global law enforcement attachés are participating. The campaign implements Executive Order 14390 and the National Cyber Strategy and uses search warrants, indictments, arrests and cryptocurrency seizures to target the infrastructure, tools, communications and money that enable large-scale online fraud.

The operation was announced ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, an event the FBI and analysts identify as a high-risk period for online scams. Reported ticket scams have risen 36% this year, and schemes selling counterfeit passes and fake fan tokens have increased as fans seek tickets and digital collectibles.

Operation Riptide follows several recent enforcement actions. In a joint takedown with Indonesian authorities, the FBI helped dismantle a phishing network tied to roughly $20 million in victim losses and about 17,000 victims. Federal prosecutors secured a conviction in an Ohio-based crypto Ponzi scheme, and U.S. authorities last year seized more than $15 billion in bitcoin from an alleged Cambodian crypto fraud network.

In its announcement, the FBI Cyber Division described Operation Riptide 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 agency stated the campaign will focus on hosting providers that shelter criminal sites, encrypted messaging platforms used to coordinate schemes, and channels that convert illicit proceeds into usable assets, including cryptocurrency mixers and exchanges. FBI teams will work with international partners to execute warrants, seize assets and pursue charges where warranted.

Officials noted the coming weeks will show whether offensive disruption can outpace fraud actors. The bureau pointed to recent large-scale seizures and international takedowns as precedents for the enforcement planned during the operation’s 60-day run.