INTERPOL announced that Operation Serengeti III resulted in 1,462 arrests across 21 countries between June 29 and August 31, 2026.
The crackdown recovered more than USD 105 million (about KSh13.6 billion) and dismantled 10,909 malicious networks.
Investigators identified 65,929 victims and linked losses of over USD 385 million (about KSh50 billion) to the targeted criminal groups.
Kenya participated in the operation, but INTERPOL did not disclose how many suspects were detained locally or how much of the recovered funds pertain to Kenyan victims.
Uganda accounted for the largest single share of arrests, with authorities breaking up two fraud rings and detaining 365 foreign nationals, representing roughly a quarter of all arrests.
In Angola, police shut down two illegal cryptocurrency mining sites, seized more than 2,000 mining rigs and six transformer stations, and arrested nine individuals. The equipment was valued at over USD 1 million (about KSh130 million).
Nigerian investigators pursued two separate cases. One phishing and business-email-compromise operation harvested around 2.1 million email addresses and led to the recovery of a luxury vehicle. A second probe into a fraudulent investment scheme traced proceeds exceeding USD 2.4 million (about KSh312 million), much of which had been moved through crypto channels.
Authorities in Tanzania dismantled a malicious mobile-loan-app scheme, while Gabon disrupted a vehicle-import scam run on social media, and the Republic of Congo arrested 30 people in a cybercrime case.
The operation relied on intelligence supplied by ten partners, including security firms Group-IB, Kaspersky and Fortinet, as well as Meta, the Global Anti-Scam Alliance and Zimbabwe’s telecom regulator.
Kaspersky’s Threat Research centre provided technical analysis and data on malicious infrastructure to help map the criminal networks.
“Cybercrime networks operate without regard for borders, exploiting technology to target victims on an unprecedented scale,” said Neal Jetton, INTERPOL’s director of cybercrime.
“The borderless nature of cybercrime makes it impossible for a single organisation or country to confront it on its own,” added Yuliya Shlychkova, vice-president of global public affairs at Kaspersky.
INTERPOL noted that the recovered amount represents roughly one-quarter of the estimated losses.
An INTERPOL African Cyber-threat Assessment released in August reported that cyber-related losses on the continent rose to USD 484 million (about KSh62.9 billion) in 2026, up from USD 192 million (about KSh24.9 billion) in 2024, with AI implicated in 55 per cent of incidents and East Africa identified as a hub for mobile-money fraud.
Kenya has taken part in all three Serengeti operations; in late 2024 its police disrupted an online credit-card fraud that caused losses of USD 8.6 million (about KSh1.1 billion) and made nearly two dozen arrests, and earlier this year it arrested 27 people in a separate INTERPOL sweep targeting fake global investment schemes.
No further details on Kenya’s specific outcomes from Serengeti III have been released, and INTERPOL indicated that several investigations remain open as authorities continue to seek additional suspects and trace illicit proceeds.
