How to start and complete Operation Paper Trail in GTA Online

Protect national interests reap a fat paycheck by completing GTA Online’s Operation Paper Trail.

Screenshot by Gamepur

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In Operation Paper Trail, you as the GTA Online protagonist helps IAA-affiliated Agent ULP perform counter-surveillance and espionage against the FIB. As part of this operation, IAA-backed squads of up to four players intervene in deals between the Bureau and the Duggan family of oil magnates, before eventually uncovering a plot to revive the rogue doomsday AI, Clifford. And fortunately for you, Agent ULP is conscripting just about any criminal-for-hire in Los Santos, no matter their reputation or net worth.

How to start Operation Paper Trail

After joining a GTA Online session, you will get a phone call from Agent ULP, who claims he’s looking for capable volunteers of ill repute to perform some work against a rival government agency. After completing this phone call, a yellow U icon will appear on the world map at the IAA Headquarters tower in Pillbox Hill. Driving to this location and stepping into the yellow mission ring on the ground will open a lobby of between one and four players for Operation Paper Trail’s first mission.

How to complete Operation Paper Trail

The entirety of Operation Paper Trail consists of six individual missions that must be played one after the other from start to finish. These six missions proceed as follows:

Players who are new to the operation must start with ULP — Intelligence and proceed down the list with every mission cleared. Between each mission, Agent ULP will debrief the player on the next upcoming mission with a phone call, after which the mission icon at Pillbox Hill will reactivate. As such, players must manually return to the IAA when they are ready to continue, and should expect the commute between mission markers.

Free to start, and able to be completed at reputation level one, full completion of Operation Paper Trail will earn new players a hefty $300,000 in starting cash. If you want to invest that money in more profitable endeavors, we recommend trying to work your way up to the higher-stakes, higher-payout heists.