Interpol has announced a major breakthrough in the fight against cybercrime across Africa, with over 1,200 arrests and $100 million worth of assets seized in a sweeping operation code-named “Serengeti 2.0”. The coordinated crackdown, carried out between June and August, involved the United Kingdom and 18 African countries, exposing nearly 88,000 victims of online scams, fraud, and illegal cryptocurrency schemes.
The operation comes at a time when cybercrime is exploding across the continent. Interpol revealed that in some African countries, online fraud reports have spiked by an alarming 3,000% in just one year. In both West and East Africa, cybercrime now accounts for more than 30% of all reported crime, underscoring the scale of the digital threat facing law enforcement.
In Angola, authorities uncovered 25 illegal crypto-mining centres, allegedly run by Chinese nationals, where equipment worth $37 million was seized. Officials say the proceeds will be reinvested into strengthening the country’s electricity distribution system.
Meanwhile, in Cote d’Ivoire, police disrupted an old-school inheritance scam that tricked victims into paying fees for access to fake fortunes, with losses running into $1.6 million. Zambia also emerged as a major hotspot, where investigators exposed a massive online investment fraud network that swindled 65,000 victims out of nearly $300 million.
Interpol hailed the crackdown as a landmark step towards building stronger cross-border defenses against Africa’s fast-evolving cybercrime landscape. Officials stressed that international cooperation is key, as criminals exploit weak regulation and rising digital adoption across the continent.
The agency added that lessons from Serengeti 2.0 would help shape training, resource allocation, and intelligence strategies to protect African citizens and economies from future online threats.
