Interpol operation arrests 1,462 in African cybercrime sweep

Interpol’s Operation Serengeti III has culminated in about 1,462 arrests across 20 African countries and the United States, with roughly $105 million in stolen funds recovered and nearly 11,000 malicious networks shut down. The two‑month sweep targets ransomware, phishing and other cyber-enabled fraud, and is described by Interpol as expanding the impact of prior Serengeti operations from 2024 and 2025.

Interpol’s Neal Jetton emphasises that the rising arrest figures reflect stronger enforcement activity rather than an uptick in offending, and notes that authorities are using data and intelligence gathered across borders to pursue suspects more effectively.

The operation’s findings highlight growing sophistication among cybercriminals and the role of AI in enabling campaigns. In Uganda, Interpol says two transnational criminal organisations used rotating call-centre schemes and fake platforms to recruit victims from Asia into scams, with 365 foreign nationals arrested.

Angola saw nine suspects tied to illegal crypto mining operations, and Nigeria reported large-scale phishing and business email compromise activities involving 2.1 million email addresses and at least US$2.4 million in profits. Interpol cites the Africa Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026, which stresses that many offences now resemble “businesses” with international staff, alongside AI‑assisted targeting and social engineering. The report underlines that international collaboration is central to disrupting these cross‑border networks.