AI Powers 55% of Cybercrime Across Africa, INTERPOL Report Reveals

Artificial intelligence is now driving 55 per cent of reported cybercrimes across Africa, enabling attacks to become faster, more sophisticated and increasingly difficult to detect, according to INTERPOL’s African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026.

The 40-page report, released on the organisation’s official X page, drew on survey data from 36 African member countries and warned that cybercrime has evolved from isolated criminal activities into an industrialised, borderless ecosystem fuelled by artificial intelligence.

INTERPOL noted that while Africa’s digital transformation is accelerating, with more than 1.1 billion mobile subscribers recorded in 2025, cybercrime legislation remains fragmented and law enforcement agencies across the continent are still inadequately prepared to respond to AI-enabled threats.

The report identified East Africa as a hotspot for mobile money fraud and ransomware attacks targeting critical infrastructure, while business email compromise (BEC) and romance scams remained widespread across Central and West Africa. Southern Africa, it added, has become an attractive target for global cybercriminals due to its high level of internet connectivity.

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According to the assessment, cybercrime-related financial losses across Africa have more than doubled since 2024, rising from 192 million dollars to 484 million dollars. The increase was largely attributed to AI-driven scams, credential theft and automated social engineering campaigns.

INTERPOL said online scams remained the most commonly reported form of cybercrime in 2025, with criminals exploiting mobile money platforms, social media and artificial intelligence to target victims. It added that 72 per cent of surveyed countries reported the presence of scam centres, particularly in Southern and West Africa.

The report also highlighted a surge in digital sextortion and online harassment through AI-generated deepfakes and synthetic media, with approximately 600,000 sextortion detections recorded by TrendAI during the period under review.

It further warned that Business Email Compromise attacks have become increasingly sophisticated, with cybercriminals using AI to generate convincing email communications while targeting businesses and individuals in Europe and North America through infrastructure spread across multiple jurisdictions in Africa.

INTERPOL also raised concerns over the absence of real-time information sharing among banks, telecommunications operators and law enforcement agencies, describing it as a major vulnerability being exploited by cybercriminals.

The report revealed that criminals are increasingly creating synthetic identities by combining genuine personal information with fabricated details to bypass biometric verification systems, open bank accounts, obtain mobile loans and register SIM cards under false identities.

Commenting on the findings, Director of INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Directorate, Neal Jetton, said AI has transformed the cybercrime landscape across the continent.

“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.”

The report noted that progress has been made in strengthening cyber resilience, with 17 African countries enacting or amending cybercrime legislation in 2025. It cited Senegal’s launch of an online reporting platform for offences affecting children as one of the notable developments.

INTERPOL also highlighted the success of four continent-wide 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 dollars.

Among its recommendations, the report called for the standardisation of digital forensic capabilities, stronger cross-border collaboration, greater investment in AI training for law enforcement officers and deeper public-private partnerships to improve cybercrime prevention, detection and response.

The African Cyberthreat Assessment forms part of INTERPOL’s African Joint Operation against Cybercrime initiative, which is funded by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with contributions from Fortinet, Mastercard, the Shadowserver Foundation, S2W and TrendAI.