Police forces in 16 African nations have arrested 651 individuals as part of a major crackdown on an international cybercrime ring, Interpol reported Thursday.
The operation, which lasted eight weeks, targeted a network that reportedly defrauded victims of over $45 million, mainly across Africa. The scams included high-return investment schemes, mobile money fraud, and fake mobile loan applications, the agency said.
Authorities also confiscated 2,341 devices and disabled 1,442 IP addresses, domains, and servers used to orchestrate the criminal activities. The coordinated raids took place during December and January.
“These organised cybercriminal syndicates inflict devastating financial and psychological harm on individuals, businesses and entire communities with their false promises,” said Neal Jetton, head of Interpol’s cybercrime directorate. “I encourage all victims of cybercrime to reach out to law enforcement for help.”
The nations participating in the crackdown included Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
