INTERPOL said on Friday that a coordinated sweep across 18 African nations has led to the arrest of 1,209 suspected cybercriminals in the second phase of its continent-wide Operation Serengeti, conducted between June and August 2025. The crackdown targeted offences ranging from ransomware and business-email compromise to online investment scams. Authorities recovered a total of $97.4 million, dismantled 11,432 malicious digital infrastructures and identified about 88,000 victims. Among the most significant actions was the closure of 25 illicit cryptocurrency-mining centres in Angola, where 60 Chinese nationals were detained and computer and power equipment worth more than $37 million was confiscated. In Zambia, investigators shuttered an online investment scheme that allegedly defrauded some 65,000 people of roughly $300 million; fifteen individuals were taken into custody and related domains, mobile numbers and bank accounts were seized. Officers also broke up a transnational inheritance fraud that began in Germany, recovering electronics, jewellery, cash and vehicles linked to losses of around $1.6 million. “Each INTERPOL-coordinated operation builds on the last, deepening cooperation, increasing information sharing and developing investigative skills across member countries,” INTERPOL Secretary General Valdecy Urquiza said, adding that the widening network is “delivering real outcomes and safeguarding victims.”