INTERPOL Operation Jackal IV Produces 58 Arrests in Cyber Fraud Sweep
INTERPOL’s Operation Jackal IV resulted in 58 arrests and the identification of 263 suspects during an eight-month campaign against West African organised crime groups involved in cyber-enabled financial fraud. The operation, conducted from November 2025 to June 2026, brought together law-enforcement agencies from 22 countries across six continents.
INTERPOL said the campaign focused on networks associated with fraud including romance scams, cryptocurrency and investment scams, business email compromise, money laundering and other serious crimes. The organisation named Black Axe among the West African groups that present an escalating global threat.
Investigations targeted fraud infrastructure and illicit funds
Investigators identified 196 people connected to a major crime-as-a-service network believed to have supplied website domains and money-laundering support to West African organised crime groups. Authorities made 17 arrests in connection with that case.
In Johannesburg, authorities raided seven locations suspected of operating romance and investment scams directed at retirees in English-speaking countries. INTERPOL said the syndicate resembled a legitimate business, assigning members conversion or retention agent roles to manage different stages of its activity.
A separate investment-fraud operation based in a Romanian call centre was also dismantled. The scheme promised high returns from stocks and cryptocurrency assets, then diverted victims’ money to wallets controlled by the fraudsters. INTERPOL estimated that €143 million was stolen and laundered globally. Police arrested 11 people and seized about €330,000 in cash and cryptocurrency, six real-estate properties and several luxury watches.
Cross-border laundering remains central to the cases
Elsewhere in the operation, authorities identified one person linked to a pan-European money-laundering network that used shell companies, remittance services and cash withdrawals to conceal the origin of funds. One account processed €845,000 through 560 transactions using 20 different financial instruments.
Participating countries included Austria, Argentina, Australia, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Fourth Operation Jackal campaign
Operation Jackal IV is the fourth campaign under the initiative, which is designed to disrupt money laundering, identify high-value targets and seize assets linked to West African financial crime. Earlier operations produced 75 arrests in 2022, 103 in 2023 and 300 in 2024, alongside blocked accounts, searches and seizures.
Tomonobu Kaya, director of the INTERPOL Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, said that tracing illicit flows across borders makes it harder for criminal networks to profit. For businesses, the cases reinforce the need to verify payment changes, scrutinise investment approaches and maintain controls that can detect social-engineering attempts before money leaves the organisation.