Nigerian authorities arrested two suspects in an Interpol-coordinated cybercrime operation across Africa that led to 1,462 arrests in 21 countries, Interpol said on Thursday.
The operation ran from 29 June to 31 August 2026. It targeted cyber-enabled fraud, ransomware, business email compromise (BEC), online scams and digital extortion.
Agencies from 20 African countries and the United States took part. The African countries are Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
What Operation Serengeti III found in Nigeria
Interpol said one Nigerian suspect was arrested over a large-scale phishing and BEC operation that “harvested software credentials and amassed approximately 2.1 million email addresses”. Investigators also recovered a luxury vehicle suspected to have been bought with criminal proceeds.
A separate investigation targeted an international investment fraud scheme promoted through messaging apps, and led to the arrest of a second suspect. Financial investigators traced the movement of more than $2.4 million in suspected criminal proceeds, much of it laundered through cryptocurrency transactions.
The two cases are unrelated. The $2.4 million figure applies only to the investment fraud case, not to the email compromise operation.
Interpol did not name the suspects, give their nationalities or identify the Nigerian agencies involved. It did not say what charges they face. They remain suspects, and no convictions have been reported.
Operation Serengeti III results across Africa
Interpol said the operation disrupted 10,909 malicious networks and recovered more than $105 million in illicit funds. Financial investigators linked the networks to losses of more than $385 million and identified 65,929 victims. By arrests, it is the largest of the three Serengeti operations so far.
In Uganda, authorities arrested 365 foreign nationals over alleged online investment and pension fraud schemes targeting victims across Asia. In Angola, investigators dismantled two illegal cryptocurrency mining centres, arrested nine suspects and seized more than 2,000 mining devices and six illegal power transformation stations. The seized electrical infrastructure was valued at more than $1 million.
Elsewhere, authorities dismantled a malicious mobile loan application scheme in Tanzania and disrupted a social media-based vehicle import fraud network in Gabon. In the Republic of Congo, 30 suspects were arrested over a cybercrime operation.
Before the operation, investigators received intelligence on suspicious domains, IP addresses and command-and-control infrastructure linked to criminal activity. Private cybersecurity firms, including Group-IB, Kaspersky, Fortinet and Team Cymru, supported the work.
Interpol’s cybercrime director, Neal Jetton, said “international cooperation remains one of the most effective tools” against cybercrime that increasingly crosses borders. Interpol said several investigations from the operation remain active.
