Artificial intelligence now drives more than half of all reported cybercrime across Africa. That is according to a new Interpol report that shows how fast criminal networks are adapting to new technology.
The African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026 came out this week. It found that AI enables 55 percent of reported cybercrimes on the continent. As a result, attacks are faster, more scalable and much harder for victims and platforms to catch. The report spans 40 pages and draws on survey data from 36 African member countries. It describes a clear shift. Cybercrime has moved from scattered, isolated incidents to what Interpol calls an industrialized, borderless criminal ecosystem.
The financial damage backs this up. Cybercrime losses across Africa have more than doubled since 2024. They climbed from 192 million dollars to 484 million dollars. Interpol attributes most of that surge to AI-powered scams, credential harvesting and automated social engineering campaigns.
Online scams remain the most common type of cybercrime on the continent. Criminals combine mobile money platforms, social media and AI tools to reach victims. In fact, 72 percent of surveyed countries reported organized scam centers. Most of these are concentrated in Southern and West Africa.
Regional patterns are also emerging. East Africa has become a hotspot for mobile money fraud and ransomware attacks on infrastructure. Meanwhile, Central and West Africa are seeing a wave of business email compromise schemes and romance scams. These hit both companies and individuals. Southern Africa’s high connectivity has made it a prime target too. Global threat actors are drawn there for maximum disruption.
Perhaps the most unsettling numbers involve AI-generated deepfakes. Digital sextortion and online harassment remain widespread. Criminals often use synthetic media, fake videos or fake images to carry these out. TrendAI, one of several private partners working with Interpol, detected roughly 600,000 sextortion cases. Business email compromise schemes have also grown far more convincing. Criminals now use AI to draft polished, believable messages. Africa-based actors increasingly target victims in Europe and North America. They rely on infrastructure spread across multiple jurisdictions, which makes these crimes harder to trace and prosecute.
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Interpol notes that Africa’s digital growth is outpacing its ability to police it. The continent recorded more than 1.1 billion mobile subscribers in 2025. Yet cybercrime legislation across member states remains fragmented. AI readiness within law enforcement agencies is still alarmingly low. So there is a clear gap between digital adoption and enforcement capacity. Criminal networks appear to be exploiting exactly that gap.
This report is the latest in a series of annual assessments. Interpol has tracked the evolution of cybercrime on the continent for years. It builds on earlier warnings about AI, deepfakes and synthetic media in criminal schemes. But something has changed this year. The scale is bigger. AI now touches more than half of all reported cases. It is no longer just an emerging side threat.
For businesses, banks and everyday mobile money users across Africa, the message is clear. The next wave of scams will look and sound more convincing than ever. Catching up will require smarter enforcement tools. It will also require stronger regional cooperation.
