A coordinated effort by law enforcement agencies across 21 countries has disrupted thousands of cybercrime networks, recovered more than $105 million in illicit funds and identified tens of thousands of victims.
Operation Serengeti III, coordinated by INTERPOL, ran from June 29 to August 31, 2026. Investigators arrested 1,462 suspects and dismantled 10,909 malicious networks linked to fraud, ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), online scams and digital extortion.
Financial investigations connected the criminal activity to losses exceeding $385 million and identified 65,929 victims. Of the 21 participating countries, 20 were in Africa, while the United States also took part.
Before the operation, INTERPOL provided investigators with intelligence on suspicious domains, IP addresses and command-and-control infrastructure used by criminals to direct compromised devices. Private-sector partners, including Group-IB, Kaspersky, Fortinet, Team Cymru and Meta, supported efforts to identify targets and map criminal networks.
Key findings across Africa
- Uganda: Authorities dismantled 2 cross-border fraud rings and arrested 365 foreign nationals. The groups used rotating call centres, scripted pitches, fake trading platforms and fraudulent websites to trick pensioners in Asia into investing in non-existent opportunities.
- Angola: Investigators shut down 2 illegal cryptocurrency mining centres, arrested 9 suspects and seized more than 2,000 mining devices and 6 illegal power transformation stations. The electrical equipment alone was valued at more than $1 million.
- Nigeria: Police arrested a suspect linked to phishing and BEC attacks that collected software credentials and around 2.1 million email addresses. Investigators also recovered a luxury car suspected of being bought with criminal proceeds.
- Nigeria: A separate investment fraud scheme promoted through messaging apps led to 1 arrest. Investigators traced more than $2.4 million in suspected criminal proceeds, much of which was laundered through cryptocurrency.
Authorities also dismantled a malicious mobile loan app 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.
“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,” said INTERPOL Director of Cybercrime Neal Jetton.
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