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Authorities crossed Africa arrested much than 1,200 suspects and seized astir $100 cardinal successful a sweeping cybercrime cognition that dismantled online fraud networks and amerciable crypto mining operations, INTERPOL announced connected Aug. 22.
The three-month crackdown, known arsenic Operation Serengeti 2.0, targeted astir 88,000 victims crossed 18 African nations successful collaboration with the UK.
Investigators uncovered 11,432 malicious infrastructures tied to ransomware, concern email compromise schemes, and online concern fraud.
Major seizures and arrests
In Angola, constabulary unopen down 25 crypto mining centers operated by 60 Chinese nationals who were illegally validating blockchain transactions. Authorities besides confiscated 45 illicit powerfulness stations utilized to substance the operation, arsenic good arsenic mining and IT instrumentality valued astatine much than $37 million.
Officials said the seized powerfulness assets volition beryllium redirected to bolster the energy proviso successful susceptible areas.
Meanwhile, Zambian authorities dismantled 1 of the region’s largest online concern fraud schemes, wherever scammers persuaded much than 65,000 radical to put successful crypto platforms with promises of precocious returns.
Losses were estimated astatine $300 million. Police arrested 15 suspects, seized forged documents, and unopen down slope accounts tied to the scheme.
In a abstracted raid, officers and migration officials disrupted a quality trafficking ringing and confiscated 372 counterfeit passports.
Meanwhile, successful Côte d’Ivoire, investigators dismantled a transnational inheritance scam traced backmost to Germany. Victims were tricked into paying upfront fees to assertion fabricated estates. Authorities arrested the pb fishy and seized cash, electronics, vehicles and jewelry, estimating losses astatine $1.6 million.
Training, prevention and planetary support
The crackdown followed months of quality sharing betwixt INTERPOL and private-sector partners, who provided information connected suspicious domains, IP addresses, and command-and-control servers.
Ahead of the operation, officers underwent grooming workshops connected crypto tracking, open-source intelligence, and ransomware analysis. INTERPOL officials said the cognition reflects a increasing planetary push to tackle cybercrime done coordinated enforcement and prevention.
A caller concern with the International Cyber Offender Prevention Network, involving 36 countries, aims to place threats earlier they escalate into transgression activity.
Funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office, the effort brought unneurotic operational partners including Group-IB, Kaspersky, Trend Micro, TRM Labs, and Fortinet.
Authorities said much investigations are underway, peculiarly into the planetary fiscal and transgression networks down the fraud schemes.
The station Interpol arrests 1,200 people, seizes implicit $100M successful crypto busts crossed aggregate African countries appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.
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