Nigeria has emerged as the country with the highest number of arrests in Interpol’s latest cybercrime crackdown, which dismantled criminal networks across seven African nations.
The international operation, known as Operation Red Card, led to the arrest of 306 suspects and the seizure of 1,842 devices between November 2024 and February 2025.
According to Interpol, the coordinated effort focused on cyber-enabled financial crimes, including mobile banking scams, investment fraud, and messaging app scams, which collectively affected over 1,500 victims.
The seven countries involved in the operation were Nigeria, Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, South Africa, Togo, and Zambia.
Nigeria leads in arrests and seizures
Nigeria recorded the highest number of arrests, with 130 individuals taken into custody, including 113 foreign nationals allegedly involved in cyber fraud. Many of the suspects were linked to large-scale online scams, such as investment fraud and online casinos.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had previously disclosed details of a major operation in December 2024, which exposed a syndicate of foreign nationals operating fraudulent schemes within Nigeria.
These criminals reportedly recruited young Nigerians, trained them in various forms of internet fraud, and provided them with the necessary digital tools, such as computers and smartphones.
The operation also uncovered romance scams, cryptocurrency fraud, and fake investment schemes.
Interpol further revealed that some individuals arrested in Nigeria might have been victims of human trafficking, coerced into cybercrime operations.
Authorities seized 26 vehicles, 16 houses, 39 plots of land, and 685 electronic devices as part of the ongoing investigation.
Rwanda, South Africa, and Zambia also targeted
In Rwanda, law enforcement arrested 45 members of a criminal network specializing in social engineering scams.
These suspects were accused of defrauding victims of over $305,000 in 2024 by impersonating telecom employees to steal sensitive banking details. The operation led to the recovery of $103,043 and the seizure of 292 devices.
South African authorities apprehended 40 suspects linked to an elaborate SIM box fraud scheme.
Meanwhile, Zambian law enforcement arrested 14 suspects involved in phone hacking and malware attacks. These criminals allegedly distributed malicious links via messaging apps, allowing them to take control of victims’ devices, steal banking credentials, and spread the scam further through compromised contacts.
EFCC set to go after “Yahoo boys” in Nigeria
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said it is ready to support the effort to combat internet scams.
This came after hundreds of fraudulent Nigerian Instagram and Facebook accounts were removed by Meta. The social media giant removed almost 63,000 fake accounts last summer because they were linked to the growing fraud issue.
