Interpol and Authorities in seven African countries have arrested 306 suspects and seized 1,842 devices in an international operation targeting cyber crime, attacks and cyber-enabled scams.
The arrests were carried out as part of Operation Red Card, which attempts to disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal networks that seriously harm individuals as well as businesses. Scams involving mobile banking, investments, and messaging apps were specifically targeted by the operation. During the operation, almost 5,000 victims were involved in the cases that were discovered.
Nigerian police detained 130 persons as part of the raid, 113 of whom were foreign nationals, for allegedly participating in cyber-enabled frauds such investment fraud and online casino fraud. To execute the illicit schemes in as many languages as feasible, the suspects were recruited from several nations and transformed the revenues into digital assets to hide their tracks. Some of the employees of scam centers may also be victims of human trafficking, or they may be persuaded or forced into illegal actions, according to Nigerian officials. As a result of the inquiry, 685 devices, 16 homes, 39 land parcels, and 26 cars were seized.
Authorities detained 40 people and confiscated almost 1,000 SIM cards, as well as 53 desktop computers and towers connected to an intricate SIM box fraud scheme in a significant case from South Africa. This configuration is frequently used by criminals to conduct extensive SMS phishing attacks, rerouting foreign calls as local ones.
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In Zambia, authorities detained 14 alleged members of a criminal organization that hacked the phones of victims. In the fraud, a malicious link was sent in a message that, when clicked, corrupted the device with malware. This made it possible for hackers to gain access to banking apps by taking over the messaging account and eventually the phone. In order to promote the scam, the hackers also managed to publish the malicious link within groups and discussions using the victim’s messaging apps.
During the operation, 45 members of a criminal network were detained by Rwandan police for their role in social engineering frauds that duped victims of more than USD 305,000 in 2024 alone. Their strategies included pretending to be telecom workers and making up “jackpot” victories in order to obtain victims’ mobile banking accounts and sensitive data. Another strategy was to pretend to be an injured family member in order to approach relatives for money to cover hospital expenses. 292 devices were confiscated and USD 103,043 was recovered overall.
”The success of Operation Red Card demonstrates the power of international cooperation in combating cybercrime, which knows no borders and can have devastating effects on individuals and communities. The recovery of significant assets and devices, as well as the arrest of key suspects, sends a strong message to cybercriminals that their activities will not go unpunished, ” said INTERPOL’s Director of the Cybercrime Directorate, Neal Jetton
Prior to the operation, countries shared criminal intelligence about important targets. Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Togo, Zambia, Benin, and Côte d’Ivoire were the seven countries that took part.