Artificial intelligence is now involved in 55% of reported cybercrimes across Africa, according to INTERPOL's African Cyberthreat Assessment 2026 — the first quantification of AI's role in the continent's digital crime wave. Cybercriminals are using AI to automate phishing, generate deepfakes, fabricate fraudulent emails, create synthetic digital identities, and make attacks faster, more targeted and harder to detect.
Based on data collected from 36 African countries, the report paints a picture of cybercrime that has evolved into a cross-border industrial ecosystem. Online scams are the most frequently reported form of cybercrime, and deepfakes have become the most visible manifestation of AI-driven criminal activity. The financial toll is climbing steeply: losses linked to cyberattacks more than doubled since 2024, rising from $192 million to $484 million last year.
INTERPOL is the first organization to quantify AI's footprint at this scale in Africa, but the trend is global. Europol and ENISA have warned about the rapid growth of AI-generated phishing, deepfakes and automated cyber campaigns across Europe, while in the United States the FBI and CISA report sharp increases in AI-assisted phishing, voice fraud and business email compromise (BEC) attacks.
For African economies — where digital infrastructure is expanding quickly but cybersecurity capacity often lags — the report is a wake-up call. The same AI tools that power productivity gains are lowering the barrier to entry for sophisticated fraud, letting small criminal groups run campaigns that once required significant technical skill. The full report is available free of charge on INTERPOL's website.
