AI Now Fuels 55% of Reported Cybercrime in Africa as Losses Surge to $484 Million – INTERPOL

Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the face of cybercrime across Africa, with AI now linked to 55 per cent of reported cybercrime cases, according to INTERPOL’s 2026 African Cyberthreat Assessment Report.

The warning comes as cybercrime-related losses across the continent more than doubled, rising from $192 million in 2024 to $484 million in 2025.

INTERPOL said the growing use of AI is allowing criminals to launch attacks faster, target more victims and make their schemes increasingly difficult for individuals, businesses and online platforms to detect.

AI Is Turning Cybercrime Into a Faster, More Organised Business

The 40-page assessment, based on survey responses from 36 African member countries, describes a major shift in the continent’s cybercrime landscape.

Criminal activity that was once largely carried out by individual hackers is increasingly operating as an organised, borderless ecosystem, with artificial intelligence helping criminals automate different stages of an attack.

AI is now being used in activities ranging from reconnaissance and phishing to social engineering, extortion and attempts to evade detection.

The report found that online scams remained the most commonly reported cybercrime in Africa in 2025, with criminals exploiting social media, mobile money services and AI-generated content to reach potential victims at a much larger scale.

Africa’s rapid digital expansion has also increased the potential pool of victims. The continent recorded more than 1.1 billion mobile subscribers in 2025, while cybersecurity protections and law enforcement capabilities have not expanded at the same pace.

Cybercrime Losses More Than Double in One Year

The financial impact is becoming increasingly severe.

Reported cybercrime-related losses rose from $192 million in 2024 to $484 million in 2025, while the number of identified victims increased from about 35,000 to 87,000.

INTERPOL attributed much of the increase to AI-assisted scams, credential theft and automated social engineering campaigns. The organisation also estimated that cybercrime caused at least $5 billion in direct economic damage across Africa in 2025, although national reporting systems remain inconsistent and many incidents go unreported.

The regional threat varies across the continent.

East Africa has emerged as a major centre for mobile money fraud and ransomware attacks against infrastructure. In Central and West Africa, business email compromise and romance scams remain widespread, while Southern Africa’s high level of internet connectivity has made the region an attractive target for international cybercriminal networks.

Scam Centres Spread Across Africa

The report found that 72 per cent of surveyed African countries reported the presence of scam centres, with the highest concentration recorded in Southern and West Africa.

These operations are increasingly structured like businesses, with criminal groups organising recruitment, technology, money laundering and methods for avoiding law enforcement.

AI is adding another layer to the problem by allowing criminals to produce personalised messages, cloned voices, fake testimonials and other convincing material designed to manipulate victims.

The growing sophistication of these operations means victims may struggle to distinguish fraudulent communications from genuine messages.

Deepfakes Fuel Rise in Sextortion

AI-generated deepfakes and synthetic media are also making digital sextortion more dangerous.

INTERPOL said TrendAI, one of its technology partners, detected around 600,000 sextortion incidents in Africa in 2025.

The report identified South Africa, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia and Angola among the countries accounting for the largest shares of those detections. Criminals have increasingly used fake relationships, stolen photographs and AI-generated intimate images to threaten victims and demand money.

The technology has also made it possible to create highly realistic manipulated images from ordinary photographs, making traditional methods of verifying whether digital content is genuine increasingly unreliable.

Children and young people remain particularly vulnerable, while adults are also being targeted through romance scams that often begin on social media before moving to private messaging platforms.

Criminals Are Creating Fake Digital Identities

Another growing concern is the use of synthetic identities.

Rather than simply stealing someone’s identity, criminals can combine genuine personal information with fabricated details to create convincing identities that appear legitimate.

According to the assessment, such identities can be used to bypass biometric checks, open bank accounts, obtain mobile loans and register SIM cards under false identities.

The problem is made worse by the lack of real-time information sharing between banks, telecommunications companies and law enforcement agencies.

INTERPOL warned that criminals can exploit gaps between different countries and financial systems by stealing an identity in one jurisdiction, using it to open an account elsewhere and moving the proceeds through another country.

INTERPOL Warns Africa Must Close Its Cybersecurity Gaps

Neal Jetton, Director of INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Directorate, said cybercrime has become one of the most serious criminal threats facing the region.

He warned that AI is automating virtually every stage of cyberattacks, from reconnaissance and phishing to extortion and evasion.

Jetton, however, stressed that international cooperation can still help authorities identify and dismantle criminal infrastructure.

The report identified fragmented cybercrime laws, limited digital forensic capabilities and inadequate AI readiness among law enforcement agencies as major obstacles.

African Countries Step Up Their Response

Despite the growing threat, INTERPOL pointed to several signs of progress.

Seventeen African countries enacted or amended cybercrime legislation in 2025, while Senegal introduced an online reporting platform designed to improve responses to online offences involving children.

Coordinated international operations have also produced significant results.

Four major operations — Operation Serengeti 2.0, Operation Contender 3.0, Operation Sentinel and Operation Red Card 2.0 — collectively resulted in more than 1,500 arrests, the seizure of hundreds of electronic devices and the recovery of more than $100 million linked to cybercrime investigations.

Operation Serengeti 2.0 targeted ransomware infrastructure, scam centres and illegal cryptocurrency mining operations, while Operation Contender 3.0 focused on romance scams and digital sextortion.

Operation Sentinel targeted business email compromise, digital extortion and ransomware across 19 countries, while Operation Red Card 2.0 focused on mobile money scams, investment fraud and fake loan applications.

Stronger Cooperation Needed to Keep Pace With AI

INTERPOL is calling for African countries to strengthen digital forensic capabilities, improve cross-border intelligence sharing and invest more heavily in AI training for law enforcement personnel.

It also wants stronger partnerships between governments, financial institutions, telecommunications companies and technology firms so suspicious activity can be detected and stopped more quickly.

The findings underline a growing challenge for Africa’s digital economy: as more people gain access to mobile banking, social media and online services, cybercriminals are gaining more opportunities to exploit them.