A massive operation against cybercrime in Africa by the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and African Union Mechanism for Police Cooperation (AFRIPOL) got 1,006 suspects arrested, 134,089 malicious infrastructures destroyed and a whopping $ 192,976,558 of money being lost.
INTERPOL is an agency that connects police around the world to fight crime and AFRIPOL is an independent organization that promotes police cooperation between African Union member states.
For country context, here is what the operation resulted in some African countries:
- In Nigeria, a man accused of running an online investment scam that lures victims with false promises of cryptocurrency returns was arrested.
- In Kenya, authorities uncovered an online credit card fraud operation that caused losses of USD 8.6 million. The group involved exploited banking security protocols and used SWIFT to transfer stolen funds to companies in the UAE, Nigeria, China and later to digital asset platforms.
- In Cameroon, authorities arrested a group trafficking victims from seven countries for a multi-level marketing scam. Victims paid membership fees under the promise of jobs or training but were held captive and forced to recruit others to gain their freedom.
- Authorities dismantled an international criminal group running a virtual casino in Luanda, Angola, which defrauded hundreds of gamblers, primarily from Brazil and Nigeria.
Details of the Operation
The operation dubbed “Operation Serengeti” was held from September to October 2024 across 19 African countries including Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The operation had one goal: to target and arrest cybercriminals leveraging the internet for online scams, extortion, compromising business emails and other cyber threats facing the continent.
The operation’s success led to close to $ 44 million (USD) monetary value being recovered, 1,006 suspects arrested and 134,089 malicious infrastructures dismantled.
All thanks to information provided by participating countries and private partners including Cybercrime Atlas, Fortinet, Group-IB, Kaspersky, Team Cymru, Trend Micro, Uppsala Security and most especially Internet Service Providers who played a vital role by providing on-site support and remote assistance to secure the critical infrastructures of countries who participated.
It is worth mentioning that Operation Serengeti was funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, the German Federal Foreign Office, and the Council of Europe.
Source: INTERPOL
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