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Interpol disclosed on Thursday that 651 people have been arrested by police in 16 African nations in recent weeks.
A network that defrauded hundreds or even thousands of victims, the majority of whom were in Africa, of over $45 million was broken up by the eight-week operation, according to the international police agency.
It stated that the online frauds included fraudulent mobile loan applications, mobile money fraud, and high-yield investment scams.
According to Interpol, investigators also confiscated 2,341 devices and shut down 1,442 malicious IP addresses, domains, and servers used to conduct the scams. The raids took place in January and December.
These organised cybercriminal syndicates use false promises to cause devastating financial and psychological harm to individuals, businesses, and entire communities, according to Neal Jetton, Director of the Cybercrime Directorate at INTERPOL.
“Operation Red Card highlights the importance of collaboration when combatting transnational cybercrime. I encourage all victims of cybercrime to reach out to law enforcement for help,” Jetton said.
Angola, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe were among the nations that took part in the operation.
