Authorities throughout Africa carried out one of many area’s largest-ever cybercrime crackdowns this summer time, arresting greater than 1,200 suspects and recovering practically $100 million in illicit funds, INTERPOL introduced.
A multi-country push in opposition to high-impact crime
The three-month initiative, codenamed Operation Serengeti 2.0, ran from June to August 2025 and concerned investigators from 18 African nations alongside the UK. The coordinated effort focused ransomware teams, enterprise electronic mail compromise (BEC) schemes, and on-line funding fraud, classes flagged within the newest INTERPOL Africa Cyberthreat Evaluation Report as probably the most damaging to people and companies.
In whole, authorities disrupted over 11,400 malicious on-line infrastructures. A lot of the success got here from non-public sector collaboration, with cybersecurity companions supplying intelligence on suspicious IP addresses, domains, and command-and-control servers earlier than the operation started.
Key takedowns: crypto farms, scams, and solid passports
Angola: Police raided 25 unlawful cryptocurrency mining facilities run by overseas nationals, seizing mining rigs, IT gear, and 45 energy stations value greater than $37 million. The federal government plans to redirect the confiscated power infrastructure towards underserved communities.
Zambia: Investigators uncovered a $300 million crypto funding rip-off that drew in 65,000 victims by way of aggressive on-line advertisements. Authorities arrested 15 people, dismantled their operations, and confiscated solid paperwork and financial institution accounts. In a separate motion, Zambian police and immigration officers seized 372 faux passports linked to a suspected human trafficking community.
Côte d’Ivoire: Officers shut down a transnational inheritance fraud scheme that originated in Germany, arresting the primary suspect and recovering luxurious items, automobiles, and money. Losses from the rip-off totaled about $1.6 million.
Constructing lasting capability
INTERPOL Secretary Normal Valdecy Urquiza praised the operation as a milestone in regional coordination, stressing that every marketing campaign “deepens cooperation and strengthens investigative expertise throughout member international locations.”
Forward of the crackdown, collaborating officers skilled in cryptocurrency tracing, ransomware evaluation, and open-source intelligence, sharpening the strategies that led to the arrests and seizures.
The hassle additionally aligned with the Worldwide Cyber Offender Prevention Community (InterCOP), a 36-nation challenge led by the Netherlands that emphasizes early detection and disruption of on-line crime earlier than assaults happen.
With its sweeping arrests, multimillion-dollar seizures, and dismantling of illicit infrastructure, Operation Serengeti 2.0 stands as some of the decisive blows but in opposition to Africa’s fast-evolving cybercrime networks.
