INTERPOL: 260 arrested across in Africa in romance scam bust

Over 260 people have been arrested across 14 different African countries for running romance scams in a major two-week-long operation organised by INTERPOL, according to Africanews, September 26.

Police across Africa seized more than 1200 devices, broke down 81 separate online crime networks, and successfully identified nearly 1500 victims as a result of the large-scale cybercrime activities in what was named ‘Operation Contender 3.0’ by INTERPOL.

Authorities are prepared to strike against the gangs of cybercriminals, scammers, and sextortionists between July 28 and August 11, 2025. Police estimate that the associated losses as a result of the scams could be as high as $2.8 million.

Many perpetrators are accused of defrauding victims through social media, making use of fake dating profiles with stolen images, meanwhile other are being charged with sextortion for blackmailing their victims by using their explicit images and videos.

Several countries across Africa saw major numbers of suspects arrested, with Ghana and Senegal topping the list with 68 suspects detained and $70,000 in stolen funds recovered. Meanwhile, Senegal saw the strange case of 22 persons allegedly making efforts to impersonate celebrities, with around 120 victims as a result fo these actions. One of the most notable events of the operation was police being able to successfully identify victims of the criminal activities, with police officers in Côte d’Ivoire being able to dismantle a sextortion ring that had over 800 victims, by far the country with the highest number of victims identified.

INTERPOL’s acting executive director of police services, Cyril Gout, commented on the increasing prevalence of cybercrime across Africa, saying that international cooperation was necessary to stay on top of the shifting culture of criminality in Africa.

“The growth of online platforms has opened new opportunities for criminal networks to exploit victims, causing both financial loss and psychological harm,” Mr Gout said.

Africa is one of the least digitally developed continents on Earth, despite hosting around 18% of the world’s population, internet penetration on the continent remains at 38%.

This does not mean, however, that the threat of cybercrime should not be considered in equal measure to other damaging activities.

Operation Contender 3.0 is a case study on how cybercrime is quickly becoming one of the most dangerous, destructive and indeed lucrative forms of exploitation across Africa. Keeping the citizens safe going forward will require international cooperation. The fast-growing rate of these security threats means it is crucial African countries develop these digital counter-measures within their own enforcement agencies, as well as being able to pull on major international bodies such as in this case.

Other nations across Africa who participated in the crackdown included Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.

Africanews, INTERPOL, Maghrebi.org