A cross-border cybercrime syndicate operating between Ghana and Nigeria has been dismantled after investigators uncovered a sophisticated fraud scheme that siphoned more than $400,000 from over 200 victims, authorities have confirmed.

The network was exposed during Operation Sentinel, a continent-wide cybercrime operation coordinated by INTERPOL, targeting business email compromise, digital extortion and ransomware threats highlighted in the 2025 Africa Cyber Threat Assessment Report.

Investigators revealed that the syndicate deployed professionally designed websites and mobile applications to impersonate popular fast-food brands, tricking unsuspecting customers into making online payments for orders that were never delivered.

INTERPOL said ten suspects were arrested in Ghana in connection with the scam, while more than 100 digital devices were seized during coordinated raids. Authorities also dismantled 30 fraudulent servers that formed the backbone of the operation.

The Ghana–Nigeria case was one of several major breakthroughs under Operation Sentinel, which led to 574 arrests across Africa, the takedown of more than 6,000 malicious links and the decryption of six ransomware variants.

The operation highlighted a growing trend in which cybercriminals exploit public trust in familiar brands to carry out large-scale, cross-border fraud, complicating detection and enforcement efforts.

INTERPOL’s Director of Cybercrime, Neal Jetton, said the operation underscored the importance of international collaboration in confronting cyber-enabled crime.

“The scale and sophistication of cyberattacks across Africa are accelerating, especially against critical sectors like finance and energy,” he said. “The results of Operation Sentinel show how coordinated action can protect livelihoods, secure sensitive data and safeguard critical infrastructure.”

INTERPOL noted that partnerships with private-sector organisations were crucial in tracing IP addresses, disrupting criminal infrastructure and freezing illicit financial assets linked to the fraud.

Operation Sentinel was carried out under the African Joint Operation against Cybercrime and received support from the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, as well as the European Union and the Council of Europe through the GLACY-e project.

The arrests come against a backdrop of rising cybercrime across the continent, with INTERPOL reporting that nearly two-thirds of African countries now classify cyber-related offences as a medium to high proportion of overall criminal activity.