The International Criminal Police Organisation, INTERPOL, has arrested two Nigerian internet fraudsters, also known as ‘yahoo boys’ and 1,460 others from other African countries.
The operation, codenamed Operation Serengeti III, which targeted cyber-enabled fraud, ransomware, business email compromise, BEC, online scams and digital extortion also led to the arrest of 1,462 suspects and recovery of over $105 million in illicit funds across Africa
According to INTERPOL, investigators disrupted 10,909 malicious networks, identified 65,929 victims and linked criminal activities to losses exceeding $385 million.
It was gathered that the operation involved 21 countries, 20 African nations plus the United States. The African countries are Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, DRC, Eswatini, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The INTERPOL added that in Nigeria, authorities arrested a suspect behind a large-scale phishing and BEC operation that harvested software credentials and amassed about 2.1 million email addresses. Investigators also recovered a luxury vehicle suspected to have been purchased with criminal proceeds.
A separate investigation in Nigeria targeted an international investment fraud scheme promoted via messaging apps, leading to the arrest of another suspect.
Financial investigations revealed movement of more than $2.4 million in suspected criminal proceeds, much of which was laundered through cryptocurrency transactions.
In Uganda, authorities dismantled two transnational fraud rings and arrested 365 foreign nationals linked to online investment and pension fraud targeting victims in Asia. In Angola, two illegal cryptocurrency mining centres were shut down, with nine suspects arrested and over 2,000 mining devices seized.
The operation was supported by private cybersecurity firms including Group-IB, Kaspersky, Fortinet, Team Cymru and Meta, who provided intelligence on suspicious domains and infrastructure.
INTERPOL Director of Cybercrime, Neal Jetton, said: "Cybercrime networks operate without regard for borders, exploiting technology to target victims on an unprecedented scale."
INTERPOL said investigations remain ongoing.
INTERPOL nabs two Nigerian yahoo boys over $2.4m fraud, recovers $105m in Africa