AI Fuels Cybercrime as Nigerians, Others Lose $484 Million to Online Attacks – INTERPOL

Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping cybercrime across Africa, making online attacks faster, harder to detect and more widespread, as victims across the continent lost about $484 million to cyber-related crimes amid Nigeria’s growing role as both a target and source of digital attacks.

The warning is contained in INTERPOL’s African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026 released yesterday, which found that AI now enables 55 per cent of reported cybercrimes across Africa.

Based on responses from 36 African countries, the report said cybercrime has evolved into a borderless and increasingly organised criminal enterprise powered by AI-driven scams, credential theft and automated social engineering.

According to the report, online scams remained the most common cybercrime in 2025, with criminals exploiting mobile money platforms, social media and AI-generated content to deceive victims.

It added that nearly three-quarters of surveyed countries reported the existence of scam centres, particularly in West and Southern Africa.

Nigeria featured prominently in the assessment. The report said the country recorded 5,822 ransomware detections in 2025, reflecting its “dual role as an origin and target of cybercrime,” while West Africa remained the continent’s busiest region for Business Email Compromise (BEC), where criminals impersonate company executives or trusted partners to divert funds or obtain sensitive information.

INTERPOL noted that AI has made such schemes more convincing by enabling criminals to produce emails that closely mimic the writing style, language and signatures of company executives.

The report also identified Nigeria among African countries with high exposure to data breaches and said the compromise of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) website in 2025 disrupted economic data collection and fuelled disinformation, highlighting the vulnerability of critical public institutions.

It added that cybercriminals were increasingly using synthetic identities, combining genuine personal information with fabricated details to bypass biometric verification, open bank accounts, obtain mobile loans and register SIM cards under false identities.

Director of INTERPOL’s Cybercrime Directorate, Neal Jetton, said: “Cybercrime has become one of the region’s most significant criminal threats.”

The organisation said coordinated international operations had led to more than 1,500 arrests, the seizure of hundreds of electronic devices and the recovery of over $100 million.

It urged stronger cross-border cooperation, improved digital forensic capabilities, greater AI training for law enforcement agencies and closer collaboration between governments and the private sector to strengthen cyber resilience across Africa.