By Ayo Kehinde
Africa has become the breeding ground for cybercriminals leveraging the underdeveloped technology in Artificial intelligence the Continent to rip it of huge sums of money.
Reports say Artificial intelligence now powers more than half of all reported cyberattacks and accelerating a wave of digital fraud that has cost the continent nearly half a billion dollars, the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) has warned.
In its African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026, INTERPOL disclosed that 55 per cent of reported cybercrimes across Africa are now enabled by AI, allowing criminals to automate attacks, evade detection, and exploit victims with unprecedented speed and sophistication.
The report, compiled from survey responses submitted by 36 African member countries, concludes that cybercrime has evolved from isolated criminal activity into a highly organised, borderless criminal enterprise, driven by rapid technological innovation and expanding internet access.
The findings come as Africa continues its digital transformation, with more than 1.1 billion mobile subscribers recorded in 2025, creating enormous opportunities for economic growth but also exposing millions of citizens, businesses and public institutions to increasingly complex cyber threats.
According to INTERPOL, cybercrime-related financial losses have more than doubled since 2024, climbing sharply from $192 million to $484 million, largely due to AI-assisted online scams, credential harvesting, phishing operations, and automated social engineering campaigns.
It said online scams remained the most frequently reported cybercrime across Africa in 2025, with fraudsters exploiting mobile money platforms, social media applications, and artificial intelligence to deceive victims on a massive scale.
One of the report’s most alarming findings is that 72 per cent of surveyed countries confirmed the presence of organised scam centres, with the highest concentration recorded in Southern and West Africa.
The assessment also highlights significant regional variations in cyber threats. East Africa emerged as a major hub for mobile money fraud and ransomware attacks targeting critical infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes and romance scams continue to flourish across West and Central Africa, where cybercriminals increasingly target both corporate organisations and individual victims at home and abroad.
Southern Africa’s high internet penetration has also made the region an attractive destination for international cybercriminal groups seeking to maximise financial gains and operational disruption.
The report warns that criminals are no longer relying solely on stolen identities. Instead, they are increasingly deploying AI to create synthetic digital identities by combining genuine personal information with fabricated data capable of bypassing advanced biometric verification systems.
These fake identities have reportedly been used to open bank accounts, obtain mobile loans, and register SIM cards under false names, significantly complicating efforts by financial institutions and law enforcement agencies to detect fraud.
INTERPOL also expressed concern over the growing use of AI-generated deepfakes and synthetic media in digital sextortion, online harassment, and identity manipulation.
Data supplied by TrendAI, one of INTERPOL’s technology partners, recorded approximately 600,000 detections of digital sextortion, underscoring the growing scale of AI-assisted online abuse.
Business Email Compromise attacks have also become increasingly convincing, with AI generating realistic emails capable of deceiving company executives, employees, and financial institutions.
According to the report, Africa-based cybercriminals are now targeting victims across Europe and North America while using digital infrastructure spread across multiple jurisdictions to conceal their identities and frustrate investigations.
The assessment further warns that weak coordination between banks, telecommunications operators, and law enforcement agencies continues to create major intelligence gaps exploited by cybercriminals.
The absence of real-time information sharing, INTERPOL noted, has become one of the greatest obstacles to combating digital financial crime across the continent.
Despite the growing threat, INTERPOL said collaborative international operations have begun yielding significant successes.
Director of INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Directorate, Neal Jetton, described cybercrime as one of the most serious criminal threats confronting Africa.
“Cybercrime has emerged as one of the most significant criminal threats to the region. AI is automating every stage of a cyberattack from reconnaissance and phishing to extortion and evasion. However, we see that when countries work together, cybercriminal infrastructure can be identified, disrupted, and dismantled,” Jetton said.
The report noted that 17 African countries enacted or amended cybercrime legislation during 2025, while Senegal launched an online reporting platform designed to improve responses to online offences involving children.
INTERPOL also highlighted four major multinational enforcement operations—Operation Serengeti 2.0, Operation Contender 3.0, Operation Sentinel, and Operation Red Card 2.0—which collectively resulted in more than 1,500 arrests, the seizure of hundreds of electronic devices, and the recovery of over $100 million in criminal proceeds.
To confront the rapidly evolving cyber threat, INTERPOL urged African governments to modernise cybercrime legislation, strengthen digital forensic capabilities, and invest heavily in AI literacy and specialist training for law enforcement personnel.
The organisation also recommended stronger public-private partnerships involving governments, financial institutions, telecommunications companies, and cybersecurity firms to improve cyber threat intelligence, prevention, and rapid response mechanisms.
The African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026 was produced under INTERPOL’s African Joint Operation against Cybercrime (AFJOC) initiative, funded by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with technical support from Fortinet, Mastercard, the Shadowserver Foundation, S2W, and TrendAI.
