
INTERPOL links AI to 55 percent of reported cybercrime across Africa
INTERPOL’s African Cyberthreat Assessment says AI enabled 55 percent of reported cybercrimes across the continent, accelerating reconnaissance, phishing, extortion, evasion, deepfakes, synthetic identities, and automated social engineering. Reported losses more than doubled from $192 million to $484 million since 2024, while 72 percent of surveyed countries reported scam centres. The central problem is not a new category of crime replacing the old one. It is industrialization: AI lets familiar fraud tactics reach more victims faster while fragmented laws, limited law-enforcement readiness, and weak real-time data sharing leave defenders behind.


