Law enforcement agencies across 19 African nations have achieved a landmark victory against cybercrime.
Arresting 574 suspects and dismantling six ransomware variants during Operation Sentinel, a month-long coordinated crackdown that concluded on November 27.
The operation, which ran from October 27 to November 27, targeted three escalating threats: business email compromise (BEC), digital extortion, and ransomware.
Authorities disabled over 6,000 malicious links and recovered approximately USD 3 million in illicit funds. The investigated cases are linked to estimated losses exceeding USD 21 million.
Operation Sentinel demonstrated how swift international cooperation can prevent catastrophic financial damage.
In Senegal, a major petroleum company fell victim to a sophisticated BEC scheme in which fraudsters infiltrated its internal email systems and impersonated executives to authorize a USD 7.9 million wire transfer.
Senegalese authorities froze destination accounts within hours, successfully halting the transaction.
Ghana experienced its own significant cyber incident when a financial institution was hit by ransomware, encrypting 100 terabytes of data and stealing approximately USD 120,000.
Through advanced malware analysis, Ghanaian authorities identified the ransomware strain, developed a decryption tool, and recovered nearly 30 terabytes of data while arresting multiple suspects.
The operation also dismantled a sophisticated cyber-fraud network spanning Ghana and Nigeria that deceived more than 200 victims of USD 400,000.
The criminals used professionally designed websites and mobile applications mimicking popular fast-food brands.
Collecting payments but never delivering orders. Ghanaian authorities arrested ten suspects, seized over 100 digital devices, and shut down 30 fraudulent servers.
In Benin, law enforcement took down 43 malicious domains and disabled 4,318 social media accounts linked to extortion schemes, resulting in 106 arrests.
Cameroon’s police responded with equal urgency, stopping a vehicle sales platform phishing campaign and issuing an emergency bank freeze within hours.
“The scale and sophistication of cyberattacks across Africa are accelerating,” stated Neal Jetton, INTERPOL’s Director of Cybercrime.
“Operation Sentinel reflects African law enforcement’s commitment to protecting livelihoods and critical infrastructure.”
The operation succeeded through partnerships with private-sector leaders, including Team Cymru, The Shadowserver Foundation, Trend Micro, TRM Labs, and Uppsala Security.
This provided critical technical support in tracing attack origins and freezing illicit assets. Operation Sentinel involved 19 participating countries and received support from the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office through the African Joint Operation against Cybercrime (AFJOC) initiative.
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