INTERPOL Warns AI Is Now Linked to More Than Half of Cybercrime in Africa

• New African cyberthreat assessment says artificial intelligence is making scams faster, cheaper and harder to detect as reported cybercrime losses more than double.

The Meat of the Story…

Artificial intelligence is changing the face of cybercrime in Africa, according to a new INTERPOL report. The organisation says AI is now linked to 55 per cent of reported cybercrime across the continent. Criminals are using it to create convincing scams, steal information, impersonate people and target victims at a much larger scale. Reported cybercrime losses more than doubled between 2024 and 2025, reaching $484 million. The warning is clear: businesses, banks and individuals are facing criminals who can now operate faster and more convincingly than before.

Analysis

INTERPOL’s African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026 paints a worrying picture of how quickly cybercrime is evolving across the continent.

The report, based on information from 36 African member countries, says artificial intelligence is enabling **55 per cent of reported cybercrimes in Africa**. Criminals are using AI to make attacks faster, more scalable and more difficult for victims and online platforms to identify.

The financial consequences are already significant. Reported cybercrime-related losses more than doubled from $192 million in 2024 to $484 million in 2025, while the number of identified victims rose from 35,000 to 87,000. AI-enabled scams, stolen login details and automated social engineering were among the main drivers.

Online scams remain the most commonly reported form of cybercrime. Criminals are exploiting mobile money platforms, social media and AI to reach larger numbers of people.

The report also found that 72 per cent of surveyed countries reported the presence of scam centre, with the highest concentrations in Southern and West Africa.

AI is also making traditional fraud more convincing. Business email compromise attacks can now use AI-generated messages that closely imitate the language and behaviour of legitimate executives or business partners. Romance scams, digital extortion and online harassment are also being amplified by deepfakes and synthetic media.

This means the threat is no longer simply about someone breaking into a computer. Increasingly, criminals are using technology to manipulate people.

Compliance implications

For banks, fintechs, payment companies and businesses, the report reinforces the need to strengthen controls around digital fraud and suspicious transactions.

AI-generated communications can make it harder for employees to distinguish genuine payment instructions from fraudulent ones. Businesses should therefore be cautious about relying solely on email, voice messages or familiar writing styles when approving payments or changing account details.

Transaction monitoring also becomes more important when criminals can generate large numbers of fraudulent transactions quickly. Unusual payment patterns, sudden changes in customer behaviour and movements of money inconsistent with a customer’s normal activity should receive appropriate attention.

Financial institutions should also consider the growing connection between cybercrime and financial crime. Stolen funds can move rapidly through bank accounts, digital wallets, money mules and cryptocurrency platforms. Effective monitoring needs to follow the money after the initial cyberattack.

Why the update matters

The most important message from the INTERPOL assessment is that AI has lowered the cost of committing cybercrime.

A criminal no longer needs to personally write convincing messages, create every fake identity or target victims one by one. AI can help automate parts of that process, allowing relatively small criminal groups to reach many more people.

For Africa, this comes at a time when digital adoption is accelerating. INTERPOL notes that the continent had more than 1.1 billion mobile subscribers in 2025, creating enormous opportunities for legitimate digital commerce but also a larger pool of potential victims.

The challenge for regulators and businesses is therefore not simply to adopt better technology. They must also ensure that their people, reporting systems and investigative capabilities can keep pace.

Compliance Takeaway

AI is making cybercrime faster, but good controls can make fraud harder to monetise. Businesses should strengthen payment verification, monitor unusual transactions, train staff to recognise AI-assisted deception and ensure cyber incidents can quickly be connected to financial crime investigations.