More Than 300 Suspects Arrested in African Cybercrime Rings Crackdown

African authorities cracked down on cybercrime rings, arresting 306 suspects for alleged ties to an extensive scam operation.

‘Operation Red Card’ hits cybercrime networks

Collaboration by law enforcement agencies from several countries led to the arrest of 306 suspects believed to be connected to a lucrative cybercrime operation.

In the operation, dubbed “Operation Red Card,” authorities confiscated nearly 2,000 devices that threat actors allegedly used to deceive over 5,000 victims through banking, messaging app, and investment scams.

Aided by INTERPOL, law enforcement agencies from Benin, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Côte d'Ivoire, Zambia, and Togo exchanged intel to ensure the operation's success.

Over 300 suspects apprehended

‘Red Card’ led to the arrest of over 300 suspects in relation to the cross-border cybercrime syndicate, as follows:

• Nigerian authorities apprehended 130 individuals, 113 of whom were foreign nationals. The suspects, believed to have been operating in multiple languages, allegedly converted stolen proceeds to digital assets for safekeeping.
• South African police arrested 40 suspects and sequestered over 53 computers. They also seized more than 1,000 SIM cards that may have been used for SIM box fraud - spoofing international calls and making them look local in SMS phishing campaigns.
• Rwandan law enforcement detained 45 individuals for alleged ties to a social engineering scam network that defrauded victims of more than $300,000 last year. Suspects impersonated telecom employees and used the “injured relative” tactic to deceive targets.
• Officers in Zambia arrested 14 suspects believed to be part of a cybercrime syndicate that compromised mobile devices by spreading malware through malicious links. Threat actors took over compromised devices, gained unauthorized access to banking apps, and weaponized the devices to further spread malware.

Safeguarding against scams and other threats

Unfortunately, scams still plague the cyber landscape. Threat actors’ cunning and the aid of artificial intelligence have made scams more difficult to spot and avoid.

Dedicated services like Bitdefender’s Scamio can help you quickly spot scams in text messages, emails, social media messages, images, links, and even QR codes. It also works with given scenarios: describe a situation and Scamio will provide an instant assessment of its perceived legitimacy.

Scamio is free and available on Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, Discord and your web browser. You can also help others stay safe by sharing Scamio with them in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Romania, Australia and the UK.

To further bolster your protection against digital threats, specialized software like Bitdefender Ultimate Security can defend you against viruses, Trojans, worms, zero-day exploits, ransomware, spyware, rootkits, and other cyber intrusions.