INTERPOL Operation Serengeti III: 1,462 arrests, 10,909 networks disrupted and $105M recovered across 21 African countries
INTERPOL announced the results of Operation Serengeti III, run between 29 June and 31 August 2026 with law enforcement from 21 countries. The operation led to 1,462 arrests, disrupted 10,909 malicious networks and recovered more than $105 million in illicit funds. It targeted online fraud, ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), scams and digital extortion. Investigators identified 65,929 victims, and financial investigations linked the activity to losses above $385 million. Several investigations remain active, and the article cautions that arrests and takedowns do not show that networks are permanently dismantled or that victims will recover their money.
Detalhes técnicos
- Uganda: two international fraud networks were broken up and 365 foreign nationals arrested. They ran call centres using scripts to push victims, including pensioners across Asia, into fake investment and pension trading platforms.
- Angola: two illegal cryptocurrency mining centres were shut down, nine suspects arrested, and over 2,000 mining devices and six illegal power stations seized (electrical equipment worth over $1 million).
- Nigeria: a suspect tied to phishing and BEC was arrested. The case involved stealing software credentials and collecting about 2.1 million email addresses. A separate case traced over $2.4 million from an investment scam promoted via messaging apps and laundered largely through cryptocurrency.
- Other actions covered loan app fraud in Tanzania, vehicle import scams in Gabon, and 30 arrests in the Republic of Congo.
- Pre-operation intelligence on suspicious domains, IP addresses and command-and-control infrastructure was shared with investigators from 20 African countries and the United States.
- Private partners supplied threat intelligence and technical analysis: Group-IB, Kaspersky, Fortinet, TrendAI, Team Cymru, Uppsala Security, Cybercrime Atlas and Meta.
- INTERPOL's 2026 African Cyber Threat Assessment Report highlights the growing use of AI to craft convincing messages and scale social engineering.
Remediação
The article gives no defender guidance. It stresses cross-border cooperation, public-private intelligence sharing and following the money as the main ways to disrupt these networks.
Linha do tempo
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INTERPOL Operation Serengeti III: 1,462 arrests, 10,909 networks disrupted and $105M recovered across 21 African countries
ler a análise desta fonte ocultar
INTERPOL announced the results of Operation Serengeti III, run between 29 June and 31 August 2026 with law enforcement from 21 countries. The operation led to 1,462 arrests, disrupted 10,909 malicious networks and recovered more than $105 million in illicit funds. It targeted online fraud, ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), scams and digital extortion. Investigators identified 65,929 victims, and financial investigations linked the activity to losses above $385 million. Several investigations remain active, and the article cautions that arrests and takedowns do not show that networks are permanently dismantled or that victims will recover their money.
Technical Details
- Uganda: two international fraud networks were broken up and 365 foreign nationals arrested. They ran call centres using scripts to push victims, including pensioners across Asia, into fake investment and pension trading platforms.
- Angola: two illegal cryptocurrency mining centres were shut down, nine suspects arrested, and over 2,000 mining devices and six illegal power stations seized (electrical equipment worth over $1 million).
- Nigeria: a suspect tied to phishing and BEC was arrested. The case involved stealing software credentials and collecting about 2.1 million email addresses. A separate case traced over $2.4 million from an investment scam promoted via messaging apps and laundered largely through cryptocurrency.
- Other actions covered loan app fraud in Tanzania, vehicle import scams in Gabon, and 30 arrests in the Republic of Congo.
- Pre-operation intelligence on suspicious domains, IP addresses and command-and-control infrastructure was shared with investigators from 20 African countries and the United States.
- Private partners supplied threat intelligence and technical analysis: Group-IB, Kaspersky, Fortinet, TrendAI, Team Cymru, Uppsala Security, Cybercrime Atlas and Meta.
- INTERPOL's 2026 African Cyber Threat Assessment Report highlights the growing use of AI to craft convincing messages and scale social engineering.
Remediation
The article gives no defender guidance. It stresses cross-border cooperation, public-private intelligence sharing and following the money as the main ways to disrupt these networks.