- Interpol reveals a successful operation of application of the law in seven African countries
- More than 300 people were arrested and around 2,000 electronic devices were seized
- Approximately $ 100,000 were recovered, says Interpol
Interpol and a coalition of seven African law agencies have recently arrested more than 300 people and confiscated almost 2,000 electronic devices in a great repression of the cyber crime.
The agency said that Operation Red Card, which was active between November 2024 and February 2025, was aimed at “interrupting and dismantling cross -border criminal networks that cause significant damage to people and companies.”
Interpol said that more than 5,000 people were victims, adding that more than $ 305,000 were stolen through social engineering scams only in Rwanda. They recovered just over $ 100,000. The operation included Benin, Côte D’IVorire, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Togo and Zambia.
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The individuals were involved in all kinds of criminal activity, said Interpol.
Mobile banking scams, investment fraud, online casino scams, SIM cash fraud and amordazos, malware -based telephone piracy, supplantation and more. They washed the stolen money through digital assets.
Interpol also received intelligence for three cyber security sets: Group-Ib, Trend Micro and Kaspersky.
The last firm said it analyzed a sample of Android malware that was supposedly used to attack African users and shared it with the application of the law, together with the data on the related infrastructure.
Interpol added that the Nigerian authorities established: “Some of the people who work in the scam centers may also be victims of human trafficking, forced or forced to criminal activities.”
The findings also led the police to capture 26 vehicles, 16 houses, 39 land plots and 685 devices. It is not known if the assets were bought with stolen money.
“The success of Operation Card demonstrates the power of international cooperation in the combination of cyber crime, which knows no borders and can have devastating effects on people and communities. The recovery of significant assets and devices, as well as the arrest of key suspect Neal Jetton commented, the director of Interpol of the director of Cybercrime.
