Big Victories For Public Private Operations Against Cybercrime In Africa.
More Than 300 Cyber Criminals Were Apprehended By Three Cybersecurity Companies In Collaboration With Interpol And Law Enforcement In Nigeria, South Africa, Rwanda, And Four Other African Countries.
306 suspected internet criminalscriminals were arrested and approximately, 2,000 devices used in cyber frauds were seized as a result of a series of investigations conducted by Interpol, police from seven African countries, and Three private security companies. The law enforcement efforts, which Interpol termed operation Red Card, targeted cyber criminals networks that impacted over 5,000 victims and involved authorities from Benin, Côte d'Lvoire, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Togo, and Zambia.
For instance, over 130 individuals -113 of whom were foreign Nationals, were detained and accused of engaging in investment schemes and online fraud in Nigeria. According to a statement from Interpol, some of the people detained were probably also coerced into engaging in illegal activity via human trafficking.
40 members of a SIM box fraud ring were Apprehended in another case in South Africa. This type of fraud involves tech-savvy crooks using Sim cards to impersonate phones and conduct extensive phishing campaigns. More than 1,000 Sim cards were consficated by the authorities. Three cyber security companies Group-IB, Kaspersky, and Trend Micro as well as law enforcement agencies from the seven Nations assisted in the analysis of threat data and the collection of evidence.
The announcement was made by Neal Jetton, the director of the Cybercrime Directorate at Interpol. " The success of operation Red Card demonstrates the power of International cooperation of combating cybercrime, which knows no borders and can have devastating effects on individuals and communities," he stated. " The recovery of significant assets and devices, as well as the arrest of key suspects, sends a strong to cyber criminals that their activities will not go unpunished."
