Between June 29 and August 31, 2026, INTERPOL led a sweeping global operation dubbed Operation Serengeti III that dismantled more than 10,900 cybercrime networks and led to 1,462 arrests across 21 countries. Authorities also seized over $105 million in illicit funds, exposing a wave of financial crimes with losses estimated above $385 million. INTERPOL reported 65,929 victims targeted in online scams during this span.
The crackdown included collaboration with private cybersecurity firms, especially one that supplied vital intelligence on phishing kits, botnets, and malicious infrastructure used across Africa. This cooperation highlighted how tracking the infrastructural backbone of cyber threats can help law enforcement disrupt them before more damage is done.
Key Disruptions Across Regions
In Uganda, two cross-border fraud rings were taken down, resulting in the arrest of 365 foreign nationals involved in complex investment and pension scams aimed at Asian victims.
Angola saw the shuttering of two illicit cryptocurrency mining operations: nine suspects were arrested, while authorities seized around 2,000 mining devices and six unauthorized power stations, with seizures exceeding $1 million in value.
Nigeria played host to multiple busts—one suspect linked to a large-scale business email compromise and phishing operation gathering millions of email addresses; another arrested for promoting an international investment fraud scheme via messaging apps, said to have laundered roughly $2.4 million through crypto channels. Elsewhere, roughly 30 individuals tied to a cybercrime network in the Republic of Congo were also arrested.
Aftermath and Implications
Operation Serengeti III builds on previous efforts. Two earlier waves of this campaign ran between September–October 2024 and June–August 2025, collectively yielding over 2,000 arrests across similar operations.
INTERPOL emphasizes that modern cybercrime ignores borders—with criminals leveraging technology to inflict harm globally. Agency leadership underlined that sharing intelligence and coordinated enforcement remain among the most effective strategies to combat online fraud, recover stolen assets, and shield communities from digital chaos.
This is not just about numbers. It’s a signal that authorities are getting better at mapping, penetrating, and dismantling the infrastructure behind scams, phishing, crypto laundering and other schemes.
Why it matters: This operation showcases how international cooperation, combined with private sector threat intelligence, can turn the tide in cybercrime. With cybercriminals scaling their operations across borders, law enforcement can no longer operate in silos. What to watch next: how new legal frameworks around crypto, cross-border data sharing, and international policing evolve — and whether the disruption of infrastructure becomes the default strategy in dismantling cybercrime networks.
