A two month long joint Afripol/Interpol operation netted more than a thousand suspects and dismantled 134 089 malicious infrastructures and networks.
Codenamed Serengeti, the operation targeted criminals involved in ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), digital extortion and online scams – all identified as prominent threats in the 2024 Africa Cyber Threat Assessment Report.
Over 35 000 victims were identified during the operation with cases linked to $193 million in financial losses worldwide.
Information on ongoing case provided by participating countries saw Interpol produce 65 cyber analytical reports. These ensured actions on the ground were intelligence-led and focused on the most significant people involved, Interpol said in a statement on 26 November.
Private sector partners, including Internet Service Providers (ISPs), were vital in sharing intelligence, supporting analysis and disrupting criminal activities. They provided on-site support and offered round-the-clock remote assistance to patch vulnerabilities and secure critical infrastructure for the participating member countries.
“From multi-level marketing scams to credit card fraud on an industrial scale, the increasing volume and sophistication of cybercrime attacks is a serious concern,” Interpol Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza, is reported as saying in the statement.
“Operation Serengeti shows what we can achieve by working together and these arrests alone will save countless potential future victims from real personal and financial pain. We know that this is just the tip of the iceberg, which is why we will continue targeting these criminal groups worldwide.”
In Kenya, officers cracked an online credit card fraud case linked to losses of $8.6 million. The funds, stolen through fraudulent scripts run after altering the banking system’s security protocol, were redistributed by the group via SWIFT to companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Nigeria and China and subsequently, to digital asset institutions offering trading and financial services regulated in multiple jurisdictions. Nearly two dozen arrests have been made so far.
Eight people, including five Chinese, were arrested in Senegal for a $6 million online Ponzi scheme affecting 1 811 victims. An apartment search apartment led to over 900 SIM cards, $11 000 in cash, phones, laptops and copies of victim ID cards.
Nigerian authorities arrested a man accused of running online investment scams. He is believed to have made upwards of $300 000 by luring victims through messaging platforms with false promises of cryptocurrency returns.
In Cameroon, authorities arrested a group suspected of trafficking victims from seven countries to run a multi-level marketing scam. After paying a “membership fee”, victims were promised employment or training. Once in Cameroon, they were held captive and obliged to lure others into the scheme to gain their freedom. Initial estimates show the group pocketed at least $150 000 in fees.
Angolan investigators dismantled an international criminal group running a virtual casino in Luanda. The group, primarily targeting Brazilian and Nigerian gamblers, defrauded hundreds through its online platform, offering a percentage of winnings to members who recruited new subscribers. A hundred and fifty arrests were made with officers seizing 200 computers and 100 mobile phones.
Afripol is the African Union (AU) mechanism for continental police co-operation.
Participating countries were Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
