An INTERPOL report from 36 African countries shows that artificial intelligence is enabling more than 55% of reported cybercrimes in the continent, making attacks faster, more scalable and increasingly difficult for victims and platforms to detect.

According to INTERPOL’s African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026, AI is radically transforming the cybercrime environment by turning it into an industrialized and borderless ecosystem where offenders are increasingly reliant on AI for automating phishing campaigns, creating fake identities and carrying out large-scale financial scams.

INTERPOL noted that scamsters are increasingly using AI to combine real personal data with fabricated elements, to bypass even advanced biometric verification systems and have been used to open bank accounts, secure mobile loans and register SIM cards under false names.

INTERPOL reported that digital sextortion and online harassment, often facilitated by AI-generated deepfakes and synthetic media, are on the rise with over 600,000 sextortion detection cases reported.

“Similarly, the sophistication of Business E-Mail Compromise (BEC) schemes increased dramatically, with AI used to generate highly convincing e-mail correspondence, with Africa-based threat actors targeting victims in Europe and North America using infrastructure located across multiple jurisdictions,” read an excerpt from the INTERPOL report.

The INTERPOL report also noted an absence of real-time, inter-agency data sharing between banks, telecoms and law enforcement creates a “blind spot” in combating cybercrimes.

“This vulnerability is being exploited by criminals who have moved beyond simply stealing existing credentials to creating entirely synthetic identities,” read the report.

The INTERPOL report maintained that the main targets are still financial institutions, telecom companies and government agencies. The financial consequences are rising rapidly. Cybercrime losses have more than doubled since 2024, increasing from $192 million to $484 million. According to INTERPOL, this increase can be blamed on attacks driven by artificial intelligence technology.

The geographical developments indicate that East Africa is becoming a hub for fraud and ransoms aimed at critical infrastructure, while in Central and Western Africa business email fraud and romance scams are prevalent. In turn, Southern Africa is facing an increase in interest from international cybercrime networks in light of its superior internet connectivity.

In light of the growing threat, INTERPOL highlights the fact that the anti-cybercrime legislation is still heterogeneous in various parts of the continent, leaving law enforcement far from being technologically ready to counter the threat.

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