Interpol's Operation Jackal IV: 58 arrests target West African fraud networks and Black Axe
A 22-country police push identified 263 suspects tied to romance, investment and business email scams, with South African authorities seizing $2.67 million from a syndicate that targeted retirees.
Key points
- Interpol's Operation Jackal IV ran from November 2025 to June 2026 across 22 countries, identifying 263 suspects and arresting 58 people linked to West African organised crime.
- South African police arrested 39 suspects, froze 257 bank accounts and seized $2.67 million from a syndicate scamming retirees in English-speaking countries.
- Argentinian officers made 17 arrests and tied 196 suspects to a Crime-as-a-Service network selling web domains and money-laundering services.
- Romanian police arrested 11 suspects tied to a call centre running fake stock and cryptocurrency investment scams.
- A separate Interpol action, Operation Red Card 2.0, produced 651 arrests across 16 African countries between 8 December and 30 January.
Police in 22 countries have arrested 58 people and identified another 263 suspects tied to West African cybercrime networks, Interpol said this week. The seven-month operation, called Jackal IV, ran from November 2025 to June 2026 and zeroed in on the Black Axe syndicate, a Nigerian-origin group long tracked by law enforcement for online fraud and violent crime.
The crimes at the heart of the case are the ones ordinary people meet in their inboxes and dating apps. Romance scams, where a fake partner slowly extracts money over months. Fake investment platforms promising huge returns on stocks or crypto. Business email compromise, where criminals impersonate a supplier or executive to trick a company into wiring funds to the wrong account.
Who was arrested and where?
The biggest single haul came in South Africa. Officers there arrested 39 people, blocked 257 bank accounts and seized $2.67 million from a group that targeted retirees in English-speaking countries with romance and investment scams, as first reported by BleepingComputer.
Argentina came next. Local police made 17 arrests and connected 196 further suspects to what Interpol describes as a Crime-as-a-Service operation, meaning a criminal business that sells tools and services (in this case web domains and money-laundering help) to other criminals.
Romanian investigators arrested 11 people running a call centre that lured victims into fake high-return investments in stocks and cryptocurrency. Italian authorities identified one suspect tied to a money-laundering ring that moved cash across Europe through shell companies, remittance services and cash withdrawals.
| Country | Arrests | Notable seizure |
|---|---|---|
| South Africa | 39 | $2.67M, 257 accounts frozen |
| Argentina | 17 | 196 further suspects linked |
| Romania | 11 | Investment scam call centre |
| Italy | 1 | Pan-European laundering ring |
What is Black Axe and why does it keep coming up?
Black Axe is a Nigerian-origin criminal fraternity that has evolved from campus violence in the 1970s into a globally distributed fraud network. Vendors and agencies tracking African organised crime consistently link the group to romance and investment scams, business email compromise, and increasingly to sextortion of minors on social media.
"Offenders typically contact minors via social media, build trust and coerce them into sharing explicit images or videos," Interpol said in its statement. "They then threaten to distribute this material to the victim's contacts unless a ransom is paid."
Interpol also flagged something CTI analysts have noted for a while: these groups now buy services from outside providers on the dark web, outsourcing laundering and other jobs the way a legitimate business outsources payroll. That makes attribution messier, since the same laundering pipe may serve several unrelated fraud crews.
What should ordinary people watch for?
Be wary of anyone you have only met online who steers the conversation toward money, crypto, or an "opportunity" a friend is running. Investment platforms promising guaranteed returns are almost always fake. If a message threatens to share intimate images unless you pay, stop paying, keep the evidence, and contact police: paying rarely ends the extortion.
Jackal IV is not the only recent sweep. Between 8 December and 30 January, Interpol's Operation Red Card 2.0 produced 651 arrests across 16 African countries. In July, Operation First Light 2026 pulled in 5,811 suspects and $293 million in seized assets across 97 countries.
