Africa: INTERPOL Arrests 651 Cybercriminals, Recovers $4.3 Million in 2 Months
The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) has arrested 651 individuals and recovered $4.3 million in an eight-week operation targeting online scams across Nigeria and other African countries.
The agency said the operation, “Operation Red Card 2.0,” ran from December 8, 2025, to January 30, 2026, in collaboration with law enforcement partners in 16 African nations. It focused on dismantling the infrastructure and actors behind high-yield investment scams, mobile money fraud, and fraudulent mobile loan applications.
“During the eight-week operation, investigations uncovered scams linked to over USD 45 million in financial losses and identified 1,247 victims, primarily from Africa but also from other parts of the world,” INTERPOL noted in a statement.
Read Also:
In Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, authorities dismantled a high-yield investment fraud syndicate that recruited young individuals to commit cyber-enabled crimes through phishing, identity theft, social engineering, and fake digital asset schemes. More than 1,000 fraudulent social media accounts were taken down, and investigators uncovered a residential property used as the syndicate’s operational hub.
Elsewhere, 27 arrests were made in Kenya in connection with scams leveraging messaging apps, social media, and false testimonials to defraud victims. In Côte d’Ivoire, 58 suspects were apprehended, and authorities seized 240 mobile phones, 25 laptops, and over 300 SIM cards in a crackdown on mobile loan fraud.
Other countries that partnered in the operation include Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Namibia, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
The coordinated effort highlights INTERPOL’s commitment to tackling cybercrime across Africa and underscores the growing sophistication of cross-border investigations against online scams that continue to inflict financial losses on victims.
By PRNigeria
