INTERPOL arrests over 70 cyber fraudsters linked to Black Axe Cult

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.

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.

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.

An INTERPOL team is on the ground in South Africa?? this week where two suspected organized crime members were arrested as part of a global operation against large-scale #FinancialCrime ?

The suspects are wanted for online scams that extracted $1.8 million from victims. pic.twitter.com/jOBv0I02AG

— INTERPOL (@INTERPOL_HQ) September 30, 2022