October 20, 2022

Over 70 suspected cyber fraudsters have been apprehended by operatives of the International Criminal Police Organization, following a coordinated operation, which the INTERPOL says confirms the global footprint of Nigeria’s Black Axe and similar organized crime groups.

According to Channels Television report, in its latest statement regarding the recent crackdown on West-African financial crime rings, the INTERPOL said in the codenamed Operation Jackal, the joint law enforcement effort mobilized 14 countries across four continents in a targeted strike against Black Axe and related West-African criminal organizations.

According to the communique, Operation Jackal marks the first time INTERPOL has coordinated a global operation specifically against Black Axe, which is rapidly becoming a major security threat worldwide.

Behind the headlines that emerged earlier this month on the arrest of two suspected online scammers in South Africa lies a global police operation coordinated by INTERPOL.

Black Axe and similar groups are responsible for the majority of the world’s cyber-enabled financial fraud as well as many other serious crimes, according to evidence analyzed by INTERPOL’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre (IFCACC) and national law enforcement.

In South Africa alone, the two suspects arrested were wanted for online scams that extracted USD 1.8 million from victims.