The INTERPOL-led operation, known as Operation Red Card 2.0, ran from December 8, 2025, to January 30, 2026, targeting criminal syndicates behind high-yield investment scams, mobile money fraud, and fraudulent digital lending schemes.

Authorities from Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe participated in the eight-week crackdown.

Investigators said the operation exposed scams linked to more than $45 million in financial losses and identified 1,247 victims, most of them in Africa but with some cases extending globally. Law enforcement agencies also seized 2,341 devices and dismantled 1,442 malicious IP addresses, servers, and digital domains used to facilitate fraud.

Neal Jetton, INTERPOL’s Director of Cybercrime, emphasized the scale of the threat and the importance of coordinated enforcement.

“These organized cybercriminal syndicates inflict devastating financial and psychological harm on individuals, businesses and entire communities with their false promises,” Jetton said.

“Operation Red Card highlights the importance of collaboration when combatting transnational cybercrime.”

Nigeria emerged as one of the key focal points of the operation, with police dismantling a major investment fraud ring that recruited young individuals to carry out phishing, identity theft, and fake cryptocurrency investment scams.

Authorities shut down more than 1,000 fraudulent social media accounts and uncovered a residential property used as a central hub for the criminal enterprise.

In a separate case, Nigerian authorities arrested six members of a cybercrime syndicate that infiltrated the internal systems of a telecommunications company using compromised employee credentials, allowing them to siphon airtime and data for illegal resale.

Kenyan authorities arrested 27 suspects linked to investment scams that used messaging apps and fake testimonials to lure victims with promises of high returns, while Côte d’Ivoire recorded 58 arrests in connection with mobile loan fraud schemes targeting vulnerable populations.

INTERPOL said the operation relied heavily on intelligence sharing and collaboration with private-sector partners, including cybersecurity firms and blockchain intelligence providers, reflecting the increasingly sophisticated nature of cybercrime networks.

The success of Operation Red Card 2.0 highlights Africa’s growing institutional capacity to combat digital financial crime as internet penetration, mobile banking, and digital payments expand rapidly across the continent, creating both new economic opportunities and new security challenges. (Business Insider Africa, but headline rejigged)