the organisation announced Friday. Dubbed Operation Serengeti 2.0, the operation took place between June and August. It brought together investigators from 18 African countries and the United Kingdom to fight harmful cybercrimes including inheritance scams, ransomware and business email compromise. Altogether, the scams targeted nearly 88,000 victims, the international police organization said in a statement. From cryptocurrency mining to online scams. Interpol said that authorities in Angola dismantled 25 cryptocurrency mining centres where 60 Chinese nationals had been mining cryptocurrency. The operation resulted in the confiscation of equipment worth over USD 37 million; the government now plans to use the equipment to support power distribution in vulnerable areas.

In Zambia, the operation dismantled an online investment scheme that defrauded more than 65,000 victims of an estimated USD 300 million through a fraudulent high-return cryptocurrency scam. “The scammers lured victims into investing in cryptocurrency through extensive advertising campaigns promising high-yield returns. Victims were then instructed to download multiple apps to participate,” Interpol said. It said that 15 people had been arrested and that authorities seized evidence including domains, mobile numbers and bank accounts. (Jamaica Gleaner)