INTERPOL’s Operation Serengeti III Reports 1,462 Arrests and 10,909 Networks Disrupted

Oct 22, 2026 · Original article ↗

Summary

INTERPOL reported 1,462 arrests and 10,909 networks disrupted in Operation Serengeti III, with over $105 million recovered. Team Cymru says infrastructure intelligence supported investigations; INTERPOL’s 2026 assessment links AI to 55% of reported cybercrime in Africa.

Key points

INTERPOL said Operation Serengeti III, conducted from June 29 to August 31, 2026, involved 21 countries and resulted in 1,462 arrests, 10,909 malicious networks disrupted and 65,929 identified victims.
The operation reported financial losses exceeding $385 million and more than $105 million recovered.
Across the three Serengeti operations since 2024, INTERPOL reported 3,677 arrests; more than $200 million has been recovered since recoveries began being reported in 2025.
Team Cymru says it provided visibility into more than 400 billion IP communications a day during Serengeti 2.0 and III, helping investigators identify targets and map criminal networks.
INTERPOL’s 2026 assessment found AI linked to 55% of reported cybercrime in Africa; reported losses rose from $192 million in 2024 to $484 million in 2026, driven largely by AI-enabled scams, credential harvesting and automated social engineering.
The assessment found that 72% of African countries report scam centers. The article also describes growing use of synthetic identities and an arrest in Nigeria linked to a phishing and business email compromise operation involving about 2.1 million email addresses.
Several Serengeti III investigations remain active as authorities continue identifying suspects and tracing illicit proceeds.

Article Details

Event Type: Coordinated international law-enforcement operation targeting cybercrime networks, including fraud, ransomware, and business email compromise.
Impact: INTERPOL reported that Operation Serengeti III, conducted from June 29 to August 31, 2026, involved 21 countries and resulted in 1,462 arrests, the disruption of 10,909 malicious networks, and the identification of 65,929 victims. Reported financial losses exceeded $385 million, and recovered funds exceeded $105 million. Across the three operations since 2024, arrests totaled 3,677. Team Cymru says its infrastructure intelligence helped investigators identify targets and map criminal networks.