A coordinated international operation against cyber-enabled crime has led to the arrest of 260 suspects across 14 African countries.
According to Interpol, the crackdown targeted transnational criminal networks exploiting digital platforms, particularly social media to manipulate victims and defraud them financially.
“Specifically, the operation focused on romance scams, where perpetrators build online relationships to extract money from victims, and sextortion, in which victims are blackmailed with explicit images or videos,” Interpol said in a statement.
The 14 African countries involved are Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.
Ghana leads the list with an arrest of 68 individuals, seizure of 835 devices and identification of 108 victims.
“For romance scams the suspects had used fake profiles, forged identities and stolen images to deceive victims. The scammers extracted payments using a range of schemes, including fake courier and customs shipment fees. In sextortion cases, offenders secretly recorded intimate videos during explicit chats and used them for blackmail,” Interpol noted.
24 suspects were arrested in Cote d’Ivoire, 22 in Senegal and 8 in Angola.
According to Interpol’s 2025 Africa Cyber threat Assessment Report, two-thirds of surveyed African countries said cyber-related offences make up a medium-to-high proportion of all crimes.
