Interpol crackdown in South Africa

South African law enforcement is among the authorities in seven African countries that have arrested 306 suspects and seized 1,842 devices in an international operation targeting cyber attacks and cyber-enabled scams.

This is according to Interpol, which said the arrests were made as part of Operation Red Card, which was executed between November 2024 and February 2025.

Interpol said the operation aims to disrupt and dismantle cross-border criminal networks that cause significant harm to individuals and businesses.

The operation specifically targeted mobile banking, investment, and messaging app scams. Interpol said the cases uncovered during the operation involved more than 5,000 victims.

Interpol described the arrests in South Africa as a significant case. Authorities arrested 40 individuals and seized more than 1,000 SIM cards, along with 53 computers linked to a sophisticated SIM box fraud scheme.

It explained that SIM box fraud reroutes international calls as local ones and is commonly used by criminals to carry out large-scale SMS phishing attacks.

“The success of Operation Red Card demonstrates the power of international cooperation in combating cybercrime, which knows no borders and can have devastating effects on individuals and communities,” said Interpol cybercrime directorate head Neal Jetton.

“The recovery of significant assets and devices, as well as the arrest of key suspects, sends a strong message to cybercriminals that their activities will not go unpunished.”

Interpol explained that countries exchanged criminal intelligence on key targets ahead of the operation.

Interpol enriched this intelligence with insights into criminal modus operandi using data from its private sector partners: Group-IB, Kaspersky, and Trend Micro.

The seven participating countries were Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Togo and Zambia.

Nigerian police arrested 130 people, including 113 foreign nationals, for their alleged involvement in cyber-enabled scams such as online casino and investment fraud.

The suspects, who converted proceeds to digital assets to conceal their tracks, were recruited from different countries to run the illegal schemes in as many languages as possible.

Nigerian authorities have established that some of the people working in the scam centres may also be victims of human trafficking, forced or coerced into criminal activities.

Overall, the Nigerian investigation led to the seizure of 26 vehicles, 16 houses, 39 plots of land and 685 devices.

In Zambia, officers apprehended 14 suspected members of a criminal syndicate that hacked into people’s phones.

The scam involved sending a message containing a malicious link which, when clicked, installed malware to the device. This allowed hackers to take control of the messaging account, and ultimately the phone, giving them access to banking apps.

The hackers were also able to use the victim’s messaging apps to share the malicious link within conversations and groups, enabling the scam to spread.

Rwandan authorities arrested 45 members of a criminal network for their involvement in social engineering scams that defrauded victims of over $305,000 (R5.6 million) in 2024 alone.

Their tactics included posing as telecommunications employees and claiming fake jackpot wins to extract sensitive information and gain access to victims’ mobile banking accounts.

Another method involved impersonating an injured family member to ask relatives for financial assistance towards hospital bills. $103,043 (R1.9 million) was recovered and 292 devices were seized.

Operation Jackal

News of these arrests comes two years after Interpol announced a major success in the coordinated multinational crackdown of the notorious Black Axe gang, codenamed Operation Jackal.

The joint law enforcement effort mobilised agencies in 21 countries across the world in a targeted strike against Black Axe and related West-African organised crime groups.

It was the first time Interpol coordinated a global operation specifically against Black Axe, a group that is rapidly becoming a major global security threat.

Members of the group not only engage in online scams but also more serious crimes like human trafficking and the production and distribution of child sexual abuse material.

According to Interpol, Black Axe and associated groups are responsible for the majority of the world’s cyber-enabled financial fraud.

Only two suspects were arrested in South Africa. However, these were high-level figures in the organisation who were wanted for online scams that extracted $1.8 million (R32.7 million) from victims.

Globally, there were 75 arrests, 49 property searches, and millions intercepted in bank accounts.