LYON, France – In a sweeping INTERPOL-coordinated operation, authorities across Africa have arrested 1,209 cybercriminals targeting nearly 88,000 victims. The crackdown recovered USD 97.4 million and dismantled 11,432 malicious infrastructures, underscoring the global reach of cybercrime and the urgent need for cross-border cooperation.
Operation Serengeti 2.0 (June to August 2025) brought together investigators from 18 African countries and the United Kingdom to tackle high-harm and high-impact cybercrimes including ransomware, online scams and business email compromise (BEC). These were all identified as prominent threats in the recent INTERPOL Africa Cyberthreat Assessment Report.
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Source: Interpol
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