A sweeping cybercrime operation coordinated by INTERPOL has led to the arrest of over 1,200 suspects and the seizure of practically $100 million, concentrating on unlawful crypto & bitcoin mining and on-line fraud networks throughout 18 African nations.
Operation Serengeti 2.0, which spanned three months, disrupted on-line fraud, ransomware, and unlawful mining actions, impacting nearly 88,000 victims.
Investigators uncovered 11,432 malicious infrastructures concerned in enterprise e mail compromise, ransomware, and funding fraud schemes.
Main arrests and bitcoin mining seizures
In Angola, authorities shut down 25 illicit mining facilities run by 60 Chinese language nationals and seized 45 unauthorized energy stations fueling the operations.
Confiscated mining and IT tools was valued at over $37 million.
Officers plan to redirect the seized energy belongings to bolster electrical energy provides in susceptible communities.
Zambia
In the meantime, Zambian police dismantled a large-scale on-line funding fraud that lured over 65,000 people into fraudulent crypto platforms, leading to estimated losses of $300 million.
Police arrested 15 suspects, seized solid paperwork, and froze associated financial institution accounts.
In a separate raid, officers disrupted a human trafficking ring, confiscating 372 counterfeit passports.
Worldwide collaboration and prevention efforts
The crackdown adopted months of intelligence sharing between INTERPOL and private-sector cybersecurity companies.
Officers acquired coaching in bitcoin monitoring, open-source intelligence, and ransomware evaluation.
INTERPOL highlighted the significance of coordinated enforcement:
“The operation displays a rising international push to sort out cybercrime by means of coordinated enforcement and prevention.”
A brand new partnership with the Worldwide Cyber Offender Prevention Community now consists of 36 nations working to detect threats earlier than prison exercise escalates.
Authorities said that additional investigations into transnational monetary networks are ongoing.