INTERPOL ARRESTS TWO CYBERCRIME SUSPECTS IN NIGERIA LINKED TO $2.4M INVESTMENT FRAUD AND PHISHING OPERATIONS

Law enforcement operation executed under Africa-wide anti-cybercrime crackdown leads to recovery of luxury assets and disruption of illicit cryptocurrency laundering networks

The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) has arrested two cybercrime suspects in Nigeria following separate cross-border investigations into business email compromise schemes and an international investment fraud ring involving over $2.4 million in illicit proceeds.

According to official operational disclosures from INTERPOL, the arrests formed part of Operation Serengeti III, a major joint anti-cybercrime crackdown conducted across 21 countries in partnership with law enforcement agencies in Africa and the United States.

In the first Nigerian case, authorities apprehended a suspect behind a large-scale phishing and business email compromise operation that illegally harvested software credentials and amassed roughly 2.1 million email addresses. Law enforcement officers also seized a luxury vehicle suspected to have been purchased using proceeds from the criminal enterprise.

A second investigation targeted a messaging-app-based investment scam that defrauded victims globally. Financial intelligence tracking revealed that over $2.4 million in stolen funds was routed and laundered primarily through cryptocurrency channels.

INTERPOL Director of Cybercrime, Neal Jetton, noted that cybercrime syndicates continue to exploit digital networks across national borders, emphasizing that coordinated international operations remain critical to dismantling transnational financial fraud rings. Across participating nations, Operation Serengeti III resulted in 1,462 arrests, the disruption of over 10,900 malicious networks, and the recovery of more than $105 million in stolen assets.