An international cybercrime operation against online scams has led to 651 arrests and recovered more than $4.3 million as part of an effort led by law enforcement agencies from 16 African countries.
The initiative, codenamed Operation Red Card 2.0, took place between December 8, 2025 and January 30, 2026, according to INTERPOL. It targeted infrastructure and actors behind high-yield investment scams, mobile money fraud, and fraudulent mobile loan applications.
Countries that participated in the law enforcement operation included Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. It was conducted under the African Joint Operation against Cybercrime (AFJOC).
"During the eight-week operation, investigations exposed scams linked to over USD 45 million in financial losses and identified 1,247 victims, predominantly from the African continent but also from other regions of the world," INTERPOL said in a press release.
The operation also saw authorities confiscating 2,341 devices and taking down 1,442 malicious IPs, domains, and servers, as well as other related infrastructure. Some of the notable cases are listed below -
- Nigerian authorities dismantled a high-yield investment fraud ring that recruited young individuals to carry out cyber-enabled crimes using phishing, identity theft, social engineering, and fake digital asset investment schemes. More than 1,000 fraudulent social media accounts were taken down.
- Six members of a sophisticated cybercrime syndicate were arrested by Nigerian authorities for breaching the internal platform of a major telecommunications provider through compromised staff login credentials. The scheme involved stealing "significant volumes of airtime and data for illegal resale."
- Kenyan authorities arrested 27 individuals in connection with a fraud scheme that used messaging apps, social media, and fictitious testimonials to deceive victims into making fake investments by promising them huge returns. Victims were shown bogus account statements or dashboards to keep up the ruse, but were blocked from making any withdrawals.
- Côte d'Ivoire authorities arrested 58 individuals and seized 240 mobile phones, 25 laptops and over 300 SIM cards to disrupt a predatory mobile loan fraud scheme that primarily targeted vulnerable populations through fake mobile applications and messaging services, enticing them with promises of unsecured loans and then trapping them extra fees, abusive debt-collection practices, and theft of sensitive personal and financial data.
"These organized cybercriminal syndicates inflict devastating financial and psychological harm on individuals, businesses, and entire communities with their false promises," Neal Jetton, INTERPOL's director of the Cybercrime Directorate, said.
"Operation Red Card highlights the importance of collaboration when combating transnational cybercrime. I encourage all victims of cybercrime to reach out to law enforcement for help."
The second phase of Red Card comes almost a year after INTERPOL announced the arrest of 306 suspects and seizure of 1,842 devices as part of the first wave of the operation that transpired between November 2024 and February 2025.
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