…1,462 suspects nabbed across Africa
The International Criminal Police Organisation has arrested suspects in Nigeria linked to large-scale phishing, business email compromise and investment fraud as part of a Africa-wide cybercrime crackdown that led to 1,462 arrests and recovery of over $105 million in illicit funds.
The arrests were made under Operation Serengeti III, coordinated by INTERPOL, which ran from June 29 to August 31, 2026, across 21 countries.
According to an INTERPOL press release on Thursday, the operation targeted cyber-enabled fraud, ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), online scams and digital extortion.
Investigators disrupted 10,909 malicious networks, identified 65,929 victims and linked criminal activity to losses exceeding $385 million.
In Nigeria, authorities arrested a suspect behind a large-scale phishing and business email compromise operation that harvested software credentials and amassed approximately 2.1 million email addresses. Investigators also recovered a luxury vehicle suspected to have been purchased with criminal proceeds.
A separate Nigerian investigation targeted an international investment fraud scheme promoted via messaging apps, leading to the arrest of a suspect. Financial investigations revealed the movement of more than $2.4 million in suspected criminal proceeds, much of which was laundered through cryptocurrency transactions.
INTERPOL said the operation comes as its African Cyber Threat Assessment Report 2026 shows artificial intelligence increasingly enabling cybercrime and rising financial losses across the continent.
Prior to the operation, investigators from 20 African countries and the United States were provided with actionable intelligence on suspicious domains, IP addresses and command-and-control infrastructure.
Other operational highlights included the dismantling of two transnational fraud rings in Uganda with 365 foreign nationals arrested for online investment and pension fraud targeting victims in Asia, and the dismantling of two illegal cryptocurrency mining centres in Angola, where nine suspects were arrested and over 2,000 mining devices and six illegal power transformation stations valued at over $1 million were seized.
Elsewhere, authorities dismantled a malicious mobile loan application scheme in Tanzania, disrupted a social media-based vehicle import fraud network in Gabon, and arrested 30 suspects linked to a cybercrime operation in the Republic of Congo.
INTERPOL’s Director of Cybercrime, Neal Jetton, said, “Cybercrime networks operate without regard for borders, exploiting technology to target victims on an unprecedented scale. Operation Serengeti III reinforces a clear message: while cybercrime is increasingly borderless, international cooperation remains one of the most effective tools for disrupting criminal networks, recovering criminal assets and protecting communities from digital harm.”
The operation was supported by private-sector partners including Group-IB, Kaspersky, Fortinet, TrendAI, Team Cymru, Uppsala Security, Cybercrime Atlas, Meta, the Global Anti-Scam Alliance and the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe.
It was co-funded by the Global Action on Cybercrime Enhanced project, a joint initiative of the European Union and the Council of Europe.
Participating countries were Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, United States, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
INTERPOL said several investigations stemming from the operation remain active, with efforts ongoing to identify additional suspects, trace illicit proceeds and analyze digital evidence seized.