WATCH THE VIDEO HERE An International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL-led) operation across seven African countries has led to the arrests of 306 cybercrime suspects, with 1,842 devices seized. According to a statement by INTERPOL, the arrests were made as part of Operation Red Card (November 2024 – February 2025), which aims to disrupt and dismantle cross-border criminal networks that cause significant harm to individuals and businesses. In particular, the operation targeted mobile banking, investment, and messaging app scams. The cases uncovered during the operation involved more than 5,000 victims. The statement revealed that of the 306 arrests, the Nigerian police arrested 130 people, including 113 foreign nationals, for their alleged involvement in cyber-enabled scams such as online casino and investment fraud. “The suspects, who converted proceeds to digital assets to conceal their tracks, were recruited from different countries to run the illegal schemes in as many languages as possible. “Nigerian authorities have established that some of the people working in the scam centres may also be victims of human trafficking, forced or coerced into criminal activities,” INTERPOL stated. It added that the investigation led to the seizure of 26 vehicles, 16 houses, 39 plots of land, and 685 devices. In a significant case from South Africa, authorities arrested 40 individuals and seized more than 1,000 SIM cards, along with 53 desktops and towers linked to a sophisticated SIM box fraud scheme. This setup, which reroutes international calls as local ones, is commonly used by criminals to carry out large-scale SMS phishing attacks. During the operation, Rwandan authorities arrested 45 members of a criminal network for their involvement in social engineering scams that defrauded victims of over USD 305,000 in 2024 alone. International cooperation Commenting on the success of the operation, INTERPOL’s Director of the Cybercrime Directorate, Neal Jetton, said: “The success of Operation Red Card demonstrates the power of international cooperation in combating cybercrime, which knows no borders and can have devastating effects on individuals and communities. “The recovery of significant assets and devices, as well as the arrest of key suspects, sends a strong message to cybercriminals that their activities will not go unpunished.” Ahead of the operation, countries exchanged criminal intelligence on key targets.
Over 300 suspects arrested in INTERPOL-led crackdown on cybercrime across 7 African countries
