Serengeti III: Interpol Rounds Up 1,462 Cybercrime Suspects in Africa
An Interpol-led operation across 21 countries arrested 1,462 suspects, dismantled 10,909 malicious networks and recovered more than $105 million from BEC, scam and ransomware crews, BleepingComputer reports.
An Interpol-coordinated sweep across 21 countries, dubbed Operation Serengeti III, ended with 1,462 arrests and 10,909 malicious networks taken down, BleepingComputer reports. The operation ran from June 29 to Aug. 31 and went after business email compromise (BEC), ransomware and online scams. Investigators identified 65,929 victims with estimated losses above $385 million, and recovered more than $105 million, according to the report. Team Cymru, Kaspersky, Group-IB and Fortinet supplied private-sector help.
For defenders
What was hit: BEC and phishing crews, investment and pension fraud rings, malicious mobile lending apps, crypto investment scams, fraudulent vehicle-import schemes and illegal crypto-mining sites. Team Cymru says it fed investigators data on suspicious domains, IP addresses and command-and-control servers to map the networks, per its announcement.
Notable cases (per BleepingComputer): Uganda broke up two transnational fraud rings and arrested 365 people. Angola arrested nine suspects and seized more than 2,000 mining rigs. Nigeria arrested one suspect accused of running a phishing and BEC operation that collected software credentials and about 2.1 million email addresses.
Context: The 2025 round (Serengeti 2.0) reported 1,209 arrests, 11,432 malicious infrastructures dismantled and $97.4 million seized, so this year’s takedown count is roughly flat while arrests and recoveries rose. No indicators, malware families or victim organizations were published, and no specific ransomware group was named.
What it means for you
Most of this is the everyday fraud that reaches inboxes and phones everywhere: fake invoices, too-good-to-be-true investment offers and loan apps that turn predatory. Arrests help, but the email lists and stolen logins these crews collected don’t disappear when someone goes to jail. If your address was in a haul like that 2.1 million list, expect the phishing to keep coming from whoever picks it up next.
Do this now
- Before paying any invoice that arrives with “new bank details,” call the supplier on a number you already have, not one in the email.
- Treat investment pitches promising fixed high returns, especially in crypto, as scams until proven otherwise.
- Only install loan or finance apps from lenders you can verify, and refuse ones that ask for access to your contacts or photos.
- Turn on two-factor sign-in for your email account so a phished password alone isn’t enough.