A cybercrime crackdown spanning 21 countries has led to 1,462 arrests, the disruption of 10,909 malicious networks and the recovery of more than USD 105 million in illicit funds, making Operation Serengeti III one of the largest cybercrime enforcement operations Africa has seen.
Coordinated by INTERPOL between 29 June and 31 August 2026, the operation targeted cyber-enabled fraud, ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), online scams and digital extortion. Authorities identified 65,929 victims of cybercriminal networks, while financial investigations linked the activity to losses exceeding USD 385 million.
Cybercrime Crackdown Amid a Shifting Threat Landscape
The operation comes as INTERPOL’s African Cyber Threat Assessment Report 2026 describes a rapidly evolving environment, with artificial intelligence increasingly enabling cybercrime across the continent and cyber-enabled financial losses still rising.
Ahead of Operation Serengeti III, investigators from 20 African countries and the United States received actionable intelligence on suspicious domains, IP addresses and command-and-control infrastructure tied to criminal activity. Private-sector partners supplied intelligence, technical analysis and operational expertise, helping authorities identify targets, map criminal networks and support investigations across the region.
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.”
Operation Serengeti III: Key Results Across Africa
In Uganda, authorities dismantled two transnational fraud rings and arrested 365 foreign nationals tied to online investment and pension fraud schemes targeting victims in Asia. A suspected scam call centre ran on a rotating model, using scripted communications, fake trading platforms and fraudulent websites to lure pensioners into non-existent investments.
In Angola, investigators shut down two illegal cryptocurrency mining centres, arrested nine suspects and seized more than 2,000 mining devices along with six illegal power transformation stations. The electrical infrastructure alone was valued at over USD 1 million.
In Nigeria, police arrested a suspect behind a large-scale phishing and BEC operation that harvested software credentials and amassed roughly 2.1 million email addresses, and recovered a luxury vehicle believed to have been bought with criminal proceeds. A separate Nigerian probe into an international investment fraud scheme promoted via messaging apps led to another arrest, with more than USD 2.4 million in suspected proceeds traced, much of it laundered through cryptocurrency.
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.
What Comes Next in the Cybercrime Crackdown
Several investigations stemming from Operation Serengeti III remain active, as authorities work to identify more suspects, trace illicit proceeds and analyse seized digital evidence.
Supporting partners included 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. The operation was co-funded by the Global Action on Cybercrime Enhanced (GLACY-e) 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, the United States, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
