cybercrime Crackdown: 574 Arrested, Millions Recovered as INTERPOL’s Operation Sentinel Strikes Across Africa!
A huge law enforcement operation across the continent, organized by INTERPOL, has dealt a huge blow to cybercriminal networks. Operation Sentinel, which lasted a month and took place in 19 countries, led to the arrest of 574 people and the recovery of about USD 3 million (about GHS 32.85 million). The operation went after business email compromise (BEC), digital extortion, and ransomware, which were all threats mentioned in INTERPOL’s 2025 Africa Cyber Threat Assessment Report. In the whole area, investigators removed more than 6,000 harmful links and were able to decrypt six different types of ransomware. The cases that were looked into were linked to huge financial losses of more than USD 21 million (about GHS 230 million). Neal Jetton, INTERPOL’s Director of Cybercrime, said, “The scale and sophistication of cyberattacks across Africa are speeding up.” He said that these actions “successfully protected livelihoods” and kept important infrastructure safe. High-tech plans stopped in West Africa, In Senegal, the government stopped a major oil company from losing a lot of money. Fraudsters got into internal email systems to approve a fake wire transfer of USD 7.9 million (about GHS 86.5 million). Senegalese police acted quickly to freeze the destination accounts just in time. In Benin, the crackdown also led to 106 arrests. There, officials took down 43 bad domains and closed more than 4,300 social media accounts that were being used for extortion. Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, a top African cyber expert, says, “Cybersecurity is no longer a technical luxury; it is the bedrock of our economic survival.” He stressed that the only way to get ahead of “borderless criminals” is to work together in the region. Ghana and the Battle Against the Sakawa Problem, The police in Ghana became a key part of the operation. Authorities were able to stop a ransomware attack on a local bank that encrypted 100 terabytes of data. Hackers had already taken $120,000 (about GHS 1.31 million) from the school. Ghanaian experts did advanced malware analysis to make a tool that can decrypt files. They were able to get back almost 30 terabytes of data because of this. One of the most important things that happened was the breaking up of a fraud network that crossed the border between Ghana and Nigeria. Using fake fast-food websites, this group cheated more than 200 people. They got paid more than $400,000 (about GHS 4.38 million). Ten people were arrested in Ghana, and thirty fake servers were shut down. Hon. Samuel Nartey George, the Minister for Communication, Digital Technology, and Innovation, said, “The message is loud and clear: we will come after you.” He recently announced the creation of a Cyber Security Fund and changes to the Cybersecurity Act (Act 1038) to make it even harder for online predators to get away with their crimes. Cameroon and Nigeria: Regional Hotbeds in Trouble, Cameroon was able to stop a phishing campaign very quickly, even faster than Ghana. Two people said they were targeted by a fake online platform for selling cars. Cameroonian police found out that the attack came from a hacked server and froze all bank accounts within hours. Nigeria is still a major center for both cybercrime and advanced law enforcement responses. According to INTERPOL, Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt are still seeing a lot of ransomware detections. The fact that Ghanaian and Nigerian authorities are working together on the fast-food scam case shows that West Africa is moving toward a more unified front. This cooperation is very important because criminals are taking advantage of the ECOWAS region’s digital borders. A Long-Lasting Crackdown from Serengeti to Sentinel, Operation Sentinel is the second big hit to African cybercrime this year. It comes after Operation Serengeti in August 2025, which led to the arrest of 1,209 people and the recovery of more than $97 million (about GHS 1.06 billion). These operations, which are part of the African Joint Operation against Cybercrime (AFJOC), show that INTERPOL is moving from random raids to a constant “hunting” model. Law enforcement is making cybercrime a high-risk, low-reward activity for local youth by going after the gangs’ financial systems. The Growing Cost of Living for Ghanaians, The Cyber Security Authority (CSA) says that Ghana lost more than GHS 19 million in the first nine months of 2025 alone. This is a worrying rise in online crime, with online fraud being the most common type of crime. The stakes are high for the country’s infrastructure. A recent major ransomware attack on the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) caused losses of between GHS 400 million and GHS 500 million, showing how easy it is for important services to be hacked. Gerard Asagi, a teacher who lost $1,200 (about GHS 13,140) to online scammers, said, “Life left me that day.” There are thousands of stories like his. Experts say that local scammers are now using the “Sakawa” phenomenon, which combines internet fraud with spiritual rituals, making it a difficult social and technical problem. Ghana’s Plan for Responding to Cyber Incidents in Business. Every business in Ghana needs to have a clear plan for what to do when an attack happens. Finding your most important data is the first step in getting ready. Give someone in charge of watching security alerts and keeping an eye on strange activity. If an attack happens, cut off all devices from the network right away to stop it from spreading. Stop employees from accessing their accounts to stop more data theft. To report the breach, call the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) at 292 or send a message on WhatsApp (0501603111). Make sure that everyone in the company uses multi-factor authentication (MFA) and changes all of their passwords. Only restore your systems from backups that are clean and not connected to the internet. Finally, do a review to fix the hole that let the hackers in. Making the Digital Future Stronger, Operation Sentinel was possible because private sector partners like Team Cymru, The Shadowserver Foundation, Trend Micro, TRM Labs, and Uppsala Security worked closely together. This operation, which is backed by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office and the EU’s GLACY-e project, sends a clear message: African It is no longer easy to use borders to your advantage. But the fight needs more than just police work. It requires a culture of digital accountability in which everyone is always on the lookout. We can only make sure that Africa’s digital transformation stays a tool for empowerment and not a playground for predators if we all take responsibility for it.
