INTERPOL announced on October 22 that Operation Serengeti III resulted in 1,462 arrests, the disruption of 10,909 malicious networks and the recovery of more than $105 million. The operation ran from June 29 to August 31 and targeted fraud, ransomware and business email compromise across Africa.
Serengeti III Results Announced by INTERPOL for Africa
The operation identified 65,929 victims, and the losses linked to the networks it disrupted exceed $385 million. Security Affairs reported that 21 countries took part, while The Record reported 20 African countries plus the United States. Security Affairs called it one of the largest cybercrime enforcement operations in Africa.
Participants shared intelligence on domains, IP addresses and command-and-control servers, and made asset seizures. Several investigations remain open.
Uganda: 365 Foreign Nationals Arrested in Fraud Ring Raids
In Uganda, authorities broke up two transnational fraud rings and arrested 365 foreign nationals. The call centers used scripts and fake trading platforms to target pensioners in Asia.
Angola: Illegal Crypto Mining Centers Shut Down
Angola closed two illegal cryptocurrency mining centers and made nine arrests. Officers seized more than 2,000 mining devices and six power stations worth over $1 million.
Nigeria, Tanzania, Gabon and Congo Cases
In Nigeria, police arrested a phishing and business email compromise suspect who had harvested about 2.1 million email addresses. A separate investment scam case there traced $2.4 million in proceeds.
Other national results included the takedown of a mobile loan app scheme in Tanzania, the disruption of a vehicle import fraud network in Gabon and 30 arrests in the Republic of Congo.
Fraud Types Covered Across the Serengeti III Cases
The reported cases span call center investment fraud, phishing, business email compromise, illegal cryptocurrency mining and loan app schemes. The mix shows the operation’s scope extended beyond ransomware and email fraud into financial scams run at scale from physical premises.
How Serengeti III Compares to the Scale of Harm
The number of victims, 65,929, set against the $385 million in linked losses, gives an average that is large per victim, though INTERPOL did not break the figures down that way. The $105 million recovered represents a portion of the losses tied to the networks.
The operation’s reach into physical infrastructure is notable. The Ugandan call centers and the Angolan mining centers were physical sites that required on-the-ground action rather than only online takedowns, a difference from operations that concentrate on seizing domains and servers.
Intelligence Sharing Behind the Serengeti III Seizures
Participants exchanged information on domains, IP addresses and command-and-control servers, which allowed one country’s findings to support action in another. The Nigerian email harvesting case and the investment scam case that traced $2.4 million in proceeds are examples of work that depends on such cross-border exchange, since the victims in the Ugandan call center cases were in Asia and the operators were foreign nationals.
Open Serengeti III Investigations and Unnamed Suspects
INTERPOL said several investigations remain open. The coverage does not list the names of suspects or the countries where follow-on arrests are expected.
Reading the Serengeti III Numbers Against the Timeline
The 10,909 disrupted networks and 1,462 arrests were achieved over a two-month window ending in August, and the results were made public in October, so the figures reflect work completed some weeks before the announcement. Reports differ on participation, with one counting 21 countries and another counting 20 African countries plus the United States.
The Uganda case accounts for the largest single arrest figure in the details released, at 365 of the 1,462 total. Congo’s 30 arrests and Angola’s nine are among the smaller national totals reported. The remaining arrests came from other participating countries, which the coverage did not break out.
