AI now drives more than half of all cybercrime in Africa, INTERPOL report finds

Artificial intelligence has officially crossed a threshold that security experts have been warning about for years. More than half of all reported cybercrimes across Africa now involve AI in some capacity, according to a new INTERPOL assessment that paints a stark picture of how quickly the technology has been weaponized. The INTERPOL African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026, released on August 3, found that AI is linked to 55% of reported cyber incidents on the continent. The financial damage has been staggering: losses surged from $192 million in 2024 to $484 million, more than doubling in just two years. The industrialization of cybercrime The report highlights three primary vectors driving the surge: AI-related scams, credential harvesting, and automated social engineering. Online scams remain the most commonly reported offenses, with AI technologies like synthetic identities and deepfakes making them dramatically more convincing. Perhaps most alarming, 72% of the countries surveyed reported the existence of organized scam centers. These operations are concentrated in Southern and West Africa, suggesting the problem isn’t just widespread but geographically entrenched. INTERPO...