Interpol, the International Criminal Police Organization, coordinates law enforcement efforts among 195 member countries’ police forces around the world to combat transnational crime. Between November 2024 and February 2025, in a joint effort with the African Joint Operation against Cybercrime, it coordinated an investigation into cybercrime including mobile banking scams, investment scams and messaging app scams throughout Africa that culminated in the arrests in the African countries of Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Togo and Zambia as announced by Interpol on March 24.
Contributing to the efforts of Interpol and AFJOC were private security companies Group-IB, Kaspersky and Trend Micro. Kaspersky provided information on a malicious Android app used by the cybercriminals.
In Nigeria, 130 people were arrested, including 113 foreign nationals who were themselves victims of human trafficking coerced into involvement with investment scams.
In Zambia, 14 members of an organized cybercrime syndicate were arrested on charges related to hacking into their victims’ cell phones and luring their victims into downloading malware that enabled the criminals to access their victims’ online banking apps.
In Rwanda, police arrested 45 members of a criminal network that perpetrated social engineering scams in which they posed as telecommunications employees luring their victims into providing sensitive personal information as well as access to their victims’ bank accounts. They also posed as family members of their targeted victims using social engineering techniques enhanced with artificial intelligence to convince their victims into paying for phony hospital bills.
Cybercrime has long been a worsening problem throughout Africa. Last November Interpol uncovered a sophisticated cybercrime operation conducted by Kenyan hackers who stole 1.1 billion Kenyan Shillings from Kenyan banks. Cybercriminals in Kenya have targeted banks and other companies with extensive cyberattacks including more than 15,000 ransomware attacks in 2024.
According to Interpol’s African Cyberthreat Assessment Report for 2024, countries throughout Africa are increasingly being attacked by sophisticated cybercriminals primarily using ransomware, the business email compromise and phishing scams targeting the banking system, government networks and individuals. The use of artificial intelligence by African cybercriminals has made the threats worse.
The nature of cybercrime which can be easily perpetrated by criminals in countries far from where their victims are located makes international cooperation in fighting cybercrime essential. The level of cooperation between law enforcement agencies in multiple countries along with private security companies is a positive development in the battle against cybercrime.
Neal Jetton, Interpol’s Director of the Cybercrime Directorate summed up the successful operation, saying, “The success of Operation Red Card demonstrates the power of international cooperation in combating cybercrime which knows no borders and can have devastating effects on individuals and communities. The recovery of significant assets and devices, as well as the arrest of key suspects, sends a strong message to cybercriminals that their activities will not go unpunished.”
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