An initiative coordinated by Interpol, named Operation Sentinel, has resulted in the arrest of 574 individuals and the recovery of $3 million tied to incidents of business email compromise, extortion, and ransomware.

Taking place from October 27 to November 27, the investigation involved law enforcement from 19 countries and led to the dismantling of over 6,000 malicious links, as well as the decryption of six varying ransomware strains.

According to Interpol, the cybercrime cases examined are linked to financial losses exceeding $21 million.

Notable achievements from Operation Sentinel include:

• Senegal: Authorities halted a $7.9 million wire transfer related to business email compromise targeting a petroleum company by freezing accounts before any funds could be withdrawn.
• Ghana: A financial institution faced a loss of $120,000 along with the encryption of 100 TB of data due to a ransomware attack. Law enforcement analyzed the malware to create a decryption tool that recovered 30 TB; multiple arrests resulted from this effort.
• Ghana/Nigeria: A cross-border scam imitating popular fast-food brands deceived over 200 victims, amounting to more than $400,000 in losses. Consequently, ten suspects were arrested, over 100 devices confiscated, and 30 servers taken offline.
• Benin: The operation resulted in 106 arrests, the removal of 43 malicious domains, and the closure of 4,318 scam-associated social media accounts.
• Cameroon: A quick response to a scam related to online vehicle sales led to tracking a compromised server and instigating an emergency bank freeze within hours.

“The magnitude and sophistication of cyberattacks in Africa are on the rise, particularly against essential sectors such as finance and energy,” stated Neal Jetton, Director of Cybercrime at Interpol.

“The results of Operation Sentinel emphasize the dedication of African law enforcement agencies collaborating closely with international partners.”

Collaboration with private sector partners also played a key role in these investigations, with support from Team Cymru, The Shadowserver Foundation, Trend Micro, TRM Labs, and Uppsala Security. These organizations assisted in tracing IP addresses associated with ransomware and sextortion attacks and helped freeze the proceeds from cybercrimes.

Earlier, in August, Interpol led another operation focused on Africa, known as ‘Serengeti 2.0,’ which resulted in 1,209 cybercrime-related arrests. Authorities seized $97.4 million in illicit funds and dismantled 11,432 malicious infrastructures affecting 87,858 victims.

In March, a similar Interpol-led operation, dubbed ‘Operation Red Card,’ led to the arrest of 306 suspects, the seizure of 1,842 devices, and disruption of scams that impacted over 5,000 individuals.

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