The International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) has announced the arrest of 27 Kenyans linked to large-scale online fraud schemes during a major cybercrime crackdown across Africa.
The arrests were made in a coordinated operation that targeted online investment scams, mobile money fraud, and fake digital loan applications, in an operation which ran from December 8, 2025, to January 30, 2026.
According to INTERPOL, detectives uncovered fraud networks that used messaging apps, social media platforms and fake testimonials to lure victims into making bogus investments.
Victims were allegedly persuaded to deposit small amounts as deposits, sometimes as low as Ksh6400 ($50), after being promised extremely high returns.
INTERPOL disclosed that the suspects made the scam appear genuine, as they showed victims fabricated account dashboards and statements that appeared to reflect growing profits.
“Victims were shown fabricated account statements or dashboards, but withdrawal requests were systematically blocked,” said INTERPOL’s Director of the Cybercrime Directorate Neal Jetton.
INTERPOL noted that the incidents in Kenya formed part of a wider transnational scam network that caused financial losses exceeding Ksh5.8 billion and affected more than 1,200 victims, mainly from Africa.
“During the eight-week operation, investigations exposed scams linked to over $45 million in financial losses and identified 1,247 victims, predominantly from the African continent but also from other regions of the world,” INTERPOL revealed.
In total, law enforcement agencies across 16 African countries, including Kenya, made 651 arrests during the operation and recovered over Ksh580 million in stolen funds.
The security agencies also recovered more than 2,300 electronic devices and shut down over 1,400 malicious servers, domains and Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.
In his speech, Neal Jetton warned that organised cybercriminal syndicates continue to cause severe financial and psychological harm to individuals and communities not only in Africa but across the world.
“These organised cybercriminal syndicates inflict devastating financial and psychological harm on individuals, businesses and entire communities with their false promises,” Jetton said.
He went ahead to encourage victims of online fraud to report incidents to law enforcement, emphasising that international collaboration remains active in dismantling cybercrime networks.
*Kenyans*
