No fewer than 574 Africans have been arrested, with $3 million recovered through a coordinated enforcement operation carried out by INTERPOL in Nigeria and 18 other African nations.
Other 18 countries were Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi.
The trans-border law enforcement team apprehended the suspects as part of an ongoing crackdown on cybercrime networks across Africa.
The operation, which took place within a month, between October 27 and November 27, 2025, focused primarily on business email compromise (BEC), digital extortion, and ransomware activities on the continent.
The coordinated effort, named Operation Sentinel, forms part of the African Joint Operation against Cybercrime (AFJOC), an initiative aimed at strengthening the capabilities of national law enforcement agencies in Africa and more effectively disrupting cybercriminal activity in the region.
During the INTERPOL-coordinated initiative, more than 6,000 malicious links were taken down, and six distinct ransomware variants were successfully decrypted.
According to INTERPOL, cases investigated during the month-long operation were linked to estimated financial losses exceeding USD 21 million.
Multiple suspects were arrested in connection with a ransomware attack targeting an unnamed Ghanaian financial institution, which resulted in the encryption of 100 terabytes of data and the theft of approximately USD 120,000.
In a separate case, Ghanaian authorities dismantled a cyber fraud network operating across Ghana and Nigeria that defrauded more than 200 victims of over USD 400,000. The network used well-designed websites and mobile applications impersonating popular fast-food brands to collect payments for fake orders.
As part of the operation, 10 individuals were apprehended, 100 digital devices were seized, and 30 fraudulent servers were taken offline.
Law enforcement authorities in Benin also dismantled 43 malicious domains and 4,318 social media accounts used to facilitate extortion schemes and scams, culminating in the arrest of 106 suspects.
In Senegal, a major petroleum company detected a sophisticated BEC scheme in which fraudsters infiltrated internal email systems and impersonated senior executives to authorize a fraudulent wire transfer of USD 7.9 million. Senegalese authorities were able to halt the transaction by urgently freezing destination accounts before the funds could be withdrawn.
Cameroonian law enforcement also acted swiftly after two victims reported a scam involving an online vehicle sales platform. The phishing campaign was traced to a compromised server, and an emergency bank freeze was issued within hours.
“The scale and sophistication of cyberattacks across Africa are accelerating, especially against critical sectors such as finance and energy,” said Neal Jetton, INTERPOL’s Director of Cybercrime.
Commenting further on the operation, Jetton said the outcomes of Operation Sentinel reflect the strong commitment of African law enforcement agencies working in close coordination with international partners.
“Their actions have successfully protected livelihoods, secured sensitive personal data, and preserved critical infrastructure.”
