There have been a total of 306 arrests in seven African countries with online casinos as they became the focus of cyber attackers and cyber enabled scams.
As a result of the arrests and Operation Red Card, the Authorities also seized 1,842 devices in an international operation targeting cyber crime.
Neal Jetton, INTERPOL’s Director of the Cybercrime Directorate, commented: “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.
“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.”
Operation Red Card has an enhanced focus on taking down cross-border criminal networks which cause “significant harm to individuals and businesses”.
Within Nigeria, where there were 130 arrests, online casino and mobile banking were a specific focus for cyber criminals.
The suspects also allegedly utilised digital assets to launder assets and ensure discretion, they were also recruited from various other countries across the globe.
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 investigation led to the seizure of 26 vehicles, 16 houses, 39 plots of land and 685 devices.
Furthermore, mobile fraud was also central to the operation in South Africa, where authorities arrested 40 individuals and seized more than 1,000 SIM cards, along with 53 desktops and towers linked to a sophisticated SIM box fraud scheme.
The efforts included action from Rwandan authorities as 45 members of a criminal network were arrested for their involvement in social engineering scams that defrauded victims of over USD 305,000 in 2024 alone.
The group allegedly focused on tactics including posing as telecommunications employees and claiming fake ‘jackpot’ wins to extract sensitive information and gain access to victims’ mobile banking accounts.
Ahead of the operation, countries exchanged criminal intelligence on key targets. This intelligence was enriched by INTERPOL 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.
