INTERPOL’s African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026 found that AI cybercrime in Africa now touches 55% of reported cases, with losses more than doubling to $484 million since 2024. Scam centers operate in 72% of surveyed countries, and AI-generated deepfakes are already defeating biometric security. The region’s governing cybercrime treaty was written before any of this technology existed.

AI cybercrime in Africa has crossed a line that security researchers had been warning about for years. INTERPOL’s African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026, released August 3 and drawn from survey data across 36 member countries, found that artificial intelligence is now linked to 55% of reported cyber incidents on the continent, according to INTERPOL’s own release. Financial losses have more than doubled since 2024, climbing from $192 million to $484 million.

What makes this report different from earlier cybercrime warnings is the specificity of how AI is being used, not just that it’s involved. AI cybercrime in Africa is concentrated in three vectors: AI-related scams, credential harvesting, and automated social engineering, according to Crypto Briefing’s coverage of the report. Business email compromise alone accounts for 10% of reported cases and remains one of the costliest categories, because AI now writes emails convincing enough to mimic a specific executive, supplier, or trusted partner rather than a generic phishing template.