INTERPOL said its joint operation with AFRIPOL arrested 1,006 suspects and dismantled 134,089 malicious infrastructures and networks across 19 African countries between 2 September and 31 October 2024. The figures describe arrests and disruption—not convictions. INTERPOL also linked cases to more than 35,000 identified victims and nearly USD 193 million in losses worldwide.
What happened in Operation Serengeti?
INTERPOL announced the results of Operation Serengeti on 26 November 2024. The joint INTERPOL-AFRIPOL operation ran from 2 September through 31 October 2024 and focused on ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), digital extortion and online scams—threats INTERPOL identified as prominent in its 2024 Africa Cyber Threat Assessment Report. INTERPOL’s announcement reported 1,006 suspects arrested and 134,089 malicious infrastructures and networks dismantled.
The participating countries were 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.
What do the arrest and disruption figures mean?
The 1,006 figure counts suspects arrested, not people convicted. INTERPOL’s announcement reported enforcement outcomes; it did not establish final court judgments for those cases. Likewise, the 134,089 figure refers to malicious infrastructures and networks that authorities said they dismantled. It is an operation result, not a count of individual criminals or victims.
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INTERPOL said country-provided information on ongoing investigations informed 65 Cyber Analytical Reports, intended to guide intelligence-led action against significant actors. The agency also credited private-sector partners, including internet service providers, with sharing intelligence, supporting analysis and disruption, and helping patch vulnerabilities and secure critical infrastructure through on-site and round-the-clock remote support.
Victims and losses linked to the operation
INTERPOL reported that the operation identified more than 35,000 victims and linked cases to nearly USD 193 million in financial losses worldwide. These are operation-linked figures, not estimates of all cybercrime in Africa or a verified final tally of losses. The announcement does not describe them as continent-wide annual totals.
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Examples of cases reported by participating countries
INTERPOL’s announcement offered examples of the varied investigations; they are not a complete inventory of cases handled in the operation.
- Kenya: Investigators pursued online credit-card fraud linked to USD 8.6 million in losses. INTERPOL said funds were stolen using fraudulent scripts after a change to the banking system’s security protocol, then redistributed through companies and digital-asset institutions in multiple jurisdictions. Nearly two dozen arrests had been made when INTERPOL announced the results.
- Senegal: Eight people, including five Chinese nationals, were arrested in connection with a USD 6 million online Ponzi scheme affecting 1,811 victims. Police reportedly found more than 900 SIM cards, USD 11,000, phones, laptops and copies of victims’ identity cards.
- Nigeria: Authorities arrested a man accused of running online investment scams. INTERPOL said he was believed to have made upwards of USD 300,000 by luring victims on messaging platforms with false promises of cryptocurrency returns.
- Cameroon: Authorities arrested a group suspected of trafficking people from seven countries to operate a multi-level marketing scam. People were allegedly held and forced to recruit others; initial estimates put collected membership fees at at least USD 150,000.
- Angola: Investigators dismantled an international group operating a virtual casino in Luanda, principally targeting Brazilian and Nigerian gamblers. INTERPOL reported about 150 arrests and the seizure of 200 computers and more than 100 mobile phones.
How the 2024 operation differs from Serengeti 2.0
INTERPOL reported a separate follow-up operation, Serengeti 2.0, in August 2025. It involved 18 African countries and the United Kingdom. INTERPOL reported 1,209 arrests, nearly 88,000 victims targeted, USD 97.4 million recovered and 11,432 malicious infrastructures dismantled. Those are results for the 2025 operation, not additions to the 2024 totals. INTERPOL’s Serengeti 2.0 announcement provides its separate figures.
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INTERPOL’s Africa Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2025 places Serengeti among major regional enforcement operations and describes Operation Red Card as a different effort against an online loan-scam network in seven countries, running from October 2024 to March 2025. Red Card’s results should not be combined with either Serengeti operation.
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