INTERPOL Operation Serengeti III arrests 1,462 suspects, disrupts 10,909 malicious networks

INTERPOL announced on October 22, 2026 the results of Operation Serengeti III, a cybercrime operation run from June 29 to August 31, 2026 across 21 countries, 20 in Africa plus the United States, targeting ransomware, business email compromise, online scams, and digital extortion. The operation produced 1,462 arrests, disrupted 10,909 malicious networks, and recovered more than $105 million in illicit funds. Investigators identified 65,929 victims and linked the networks to losses exceeding $385 million.

In Uganda, authorities dismantled two transnational fraud rings and arrested 365 people over online investment and pension fraud. In Angola, investigators shut two illegal cryptocurrency mining centres, arrested nine suspects, and seized more than 2,000 mining devices. In Nigeria, a suspect was arrested over a phishing and business email compromise operation that had amassed about 2.1 million email addresses. Private sector partners, including Team Cymru, Group-IB, Kaspersky, and Fortinet, supported the operation with intelligence on suspicious domains, IP addresses, and command and control infrastructure.

Sources: BleepingComputer; Help Net Security