More than 20 Kenyans have been arrested after a two-month sting operation conducted by the INTERPOL and AFRIPOL to thwart 134,089 cybercrime networks, in which the two transnational law enforcement agencies recovered US$43,954,537
- •The arrested individuals were allegedly involved in online credit card scams that saw the global banking system lose KSh 1.1 billion (US$8.6 million).
- •The stolen funds were then wired via SWIFT to digital asset firms in other countries including the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Nigeria, and China.
- •The operation dubbed “Serengeti” also led to the crackdown of digital fraudsters in other countries including Senegal, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Angola – bringing the total number of arrests to 1,006.
“Operation Serengeti shows what we can achieve by working together, and these arrests alone will save countless potential future victims from personal and financial pain,” said Valdecy Urquiza, Secretary General of INTERPOL.
The operation was supported by Algeria, Angola, DRC, Cameroon, Côte D’Ivoire, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Ghana, Gabon, Senegal, South Africa, Nigeria, Zambia, Tunisia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Private sector partners like Cybercrime Atlas, Kaspersky, Team Cymru, Trend Micro, Uppsala Security, and Fortinet shared intelligence and supported analysis to disrupt the criminal activities.
“Through Serengeti, AFRIPOL has significantly enhanced support for law enforcement in African Union Member States. We have facilitated key arrests and deepened insights into cybercrime trends. Our focus now includes emerging threats like AI-driven malware and advanced attack techniques,” Jalela Chelba, AFRIPOL’s Executive Director said.
According to the latest TransUnion report, Kenya had the 10th highest rate of suspected Digital Fraud in the first half of 2024 out of the 19 countries and regions they analysed. About 4.6% of all attempted digital transactions where the consumer was located in Kenya were identified as suspected Digital Fraud.
Credit card fraud is a prevalent headache for the financial sector. Fraudsters steal the credentials of card owners in many ways and access their accounts. The two main ways they accomplish this are through account takeovers and application fraud.
“We know that this is just a tip of the iceberg, which is why we will continue targeting these criminal groups worldwide,” said Urquiza.
