In a sweeping operation that spanned from November 2024 to February 2025, INTERPOL and law enforcement agencies across seven African nations arrested 306 suspects linked to sophisticated cybercrime networks.
Operation Red Card targeted mobile banking scams, investment fraud, and messaging app schemes that had victimized over 5,000 people. Let’s be honest – these criminals weren’t exactly geniuses, just organized.
Operation Red Card nabbed scammers who were less criminal masterminds and more efficiently organized opportunists.
The haul was impressive. Authorities seized 1,842 devices, 26 vehicles, and even 16 houses. Yeah, actual houses. The crooks had been doing pretty well for themselves until now.
In Nigeria alone, 130 suspects were detained, including 113 foreign nationals who’d set up shop to run their scams internationally. Convenient.
South Africa didn’t mess around either, arresting 40 individuals operating a SIM box fraud scheme. They confiscated 53 computers and over 1,000 SIM cards. That’s a lot of text messages nobody’s going to miss.
Rwanda focused on social engineering scams, nabbing 45 suspects who’d been impersonating telecom employees. These charlatans had swindled victims out of more than $103,043.
Zambia contributed by arresting 14 suspects who specialized in hacking phones through malware. Sneaky.
The operation revealed some disturbing trends. Cybercriminals are getting craftier – converting stolen funds to digital assets, employing AI-driven malware, and even setting up “fraud-as-a-service” platforms.
They’re treating crime like a business model now. Great.
INTERPOL’s African Joint Operation against Cybercrime led the charge, with funding from the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. Other nations involved included Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, and Togo who joined the continent-wide effort to combat these digital threats. This operation builds upon the success of Africa Cyber Surge operations conducted in 2022 and 2023. Private sector partners like Group-IB, Kaspersky, and Trend Micro provided critical intelligence.
Perhaps most concerning was evidence suggesting human trafficking victims were being forced to work in some of these scam operations. Crime upon crime.
The crackdown represents a significant blow to cross-border criminal networks, but everyone knows they’ll adapt. They always do.
Still, 306 arrests in one operation? That’s going to sting for a while.
