Interpol has detained 1,006 suspects in Africa following a large two-month operation, cracking down on cybercrime that caused millions of dollars in financial losses and left tens of thousands of victims, including some who were trafficked said Tuesday.
According to the agency’s statement, Operation Serengeti, a combined operation with Afripol, the African Union’s police agency, targeted criminals responsible for ransomware, business email breach, digital extortion, and online scams. The operation took place in 19 African countries between September 2 and October 31.
“From multi-level marketing scams to credit card fraud on an industrial scale, the increasing volume and sophistication of cybercrime attacks is of serious concern,” said Valdecy Urquiza, the Secretary General of Interpol.
With cases connected to about $193 million in global financial losses, Interpol identified 35,000 victims and said that local law enforcement and business sector partners, such as internet service providers, were crucial to the investigation.
Jalel Chelba, Afripol’s Executive Director, said in the statement: “Through Serengeti, Afripol has significantly enhanced support for law enforcement in African Union Member States,”
Enrique Hernandez Gonzalez, Interpol’s Assistant Director of Cybercrime Operations, told the media that Serengeti’s findings were a “drastic increase” when compared to operations in Africa in prior years.
Only 25 people had been arrested in the preceding two years as a result of Interpol’s cybercrime operations in Africa.
“Significant progress has been made, with participating countries enhancing their ability to work with intelligence and produce meaningful results,” Gonzalez said.
Nearly two dozen people were arrested by Kenyan police in connection with an online credit card fraud case that resulted in $8.6 million in losses. Officers in Senegal, a country in West Africa, detained eight individuals, five of them were Chinese, in connection with a $6 million internet Ponzi fraud.
According to Chelba, Afripol is now concentrating on new dangers such as malware powered by artificial intelligence and sophisticated hacking methods.
The agency also reported that it had disrupted a cryptocurrency investment scam in Nigeria, an international criminal ring operating an unlawful virtual casino in Angola, and a group in Cameroon suspected of employing a multi-level marketing scheme for human trafficking.
With 196 member nations and a centennial last year, Interpol helps national police forces connect with one another and pursue offenders and suspects in areas such as organized crime, financial crime, child pornography, cybercrime, and counterterrorism.
The largest, if not best-funded, police force in the world has been facing new difficulties, such as an increase in the number of cases involving child sex abuse and cybercrime, as well as developing rifts among its member nations.
Last year, Interpol’s overall budget was approximately 176 million euros, or $188 million. In contrast, Europol, the police agency of the European Union, had a budget of over 200 million euros, while the FBI in the United States had a budget of approximately $11 billion.
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