Reported by 2 outlets

Timeline

1. original reporting

   Police arrests dozens of suspects in global cybercrime crackdown

   bleepingcomputer.com · 49d ago · August 25th, 2026

   Law enforcement agencies from 22 countries helped identify 263 suspects and arrested 58 individuals linked to cybercrime networks coordinated by African crime groups. The "Operation Jackal IV" international joint action targeted West African criminal networks between November 2025 and June 2026. The operation also focused on disrupting the Black Axe cybercrime syndicate, known for its involvement in global-scale cyber-enabled financial fraud. Most commonly, Black Axe and similar criminal rings are targeting victims in romance scams, cryptocurrency and investment scams, or business email compromise fraud, but they've often also been linked to violent crimes. During Operation Jackal IV, Argentinian law officers made 17 arrests, and they linked 196 suspects to a major Crime-as-a-Service network that provided West African organized crime groups with web domains and money-laundering support. South African authorities also arrested 39 individuals, blocked 257 bank accounts, and seized $2.67 million from a criminal syndicate that targeted retirees in English-speaking countries in investment and romance scams. Romanian police arrested another 11 suspects, part of a criminal group linked to a call center that used high returns in stocks or cryptocurrencies to bait victims into sophisticated investment scams, while Italian authorities identified one suspect linked to a pan-European money laundering network that laundered money via shell companies, remittance services, and cash withdraw

2. update from cyberscoop.com

   Interpol targets Black Axe’s illicit financial web in latest international sting

   cyberscoop.com · 49d ago · August 25th, 2026

   An international law enforcement operation carried out against organized crime groups in West Africa resulted in 58 arrests and identified 263 suspects, Interpol announced Tuesday. The operation, known as Operation Jackal IV, aimed to disrupt money laundering, locate high-value targets, seize assets and support prosecutions tied to various Africa-based criminal groups, including Black Axe. Black Axe is a highly structured, hierarchical group that generates billions of dollars in criminal proceeds annually from many small-scale operations spanning dozens of countries. The group’s leaders are Nigerian nationals, according to a Europol release issued earlier this year. In January, European law enforcement arrested dozens of the group’s members for adversary-in-the-middle scams such as business email compromise, money laundering and vehicle trafficking. “Operation Jackal IV demonstrates the power of international cooperation,” Tomonobu Kaya, director of Interpol’s Financial Crime and Anti-Corruption Centre, said in a release. “By following illicit financial flows across borders, we are attacking the very lifeblood of organized crime and making it increasingly difficult for criminal networks to profit from their activities.” The agency said it will continue to work to unravel the full details of each case, but detailed several preliminary discoveries from partner organizations Tuesday. Romanian authorities broke up a group that ran an investment scam from a call center promising h