Operation Serengeti, led by Interpol and the African Union’s policing organization (AFRIPOL), resulted in 1,006 arrests made in 19 countries including Chinese nationals on the African continent.
Interpol announced on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, that the operation, which was effected between September 2 and October 31, 2024, discovered more than 35, 000 victims with cases linked to close to USD 193 million in financial loss.
The 19 participating countries are Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Executive Director of AFRIPOL, Ambassador Jalel Chelba, said, “Through Serengeti, AFRIPOL has significantly enhanced support for law enforcement in African Union Member States. We’ve facilitated key arrests and deepened insights into cybercrime trends. Our focus now includes emerging threats like AI-driven malware and advanced attack techniques.”
In collaboration with operational partners including Cybercrime Atlas, Fortinet, Group-IB, Kaspersky, Team Cymru, Trend Micro, and Uppsala Security, Interpol and AFRIPOL discovered the scammers utilized ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), digital extortion, and other online scams against their victims.
Operation Serengeti was funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the German Federal Foreign Office, and the Council of Europe.
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