Accra: Cybercriminals across Africa have shifted from using Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a supporting tool to relying on it as the central driver of operations, according to the INTERPOL African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026. The report highlights a significant transformation in the approach to cybercrime, with AI now being used to automate various stages of cyber-attacks, making them more efficient and difficult to detect.
According to Ghana Web, the INTERPOL report reveals that 2025 marked a pivotal year, seeing the transition of AI from a mere supportive technology to the core operational driver of cybercrime across the continent. An alarming 55% of cybercrime cases recorded in 2025 involved AI, with 47% of these using AI occasionally and 8% frequently. This shift has enabled cybercriminals to automate every phase of their attacks, from reconnaissance and phishing to extortion and evasion.
The report also uncovers the financial impact of AI-driven cybercrime, citing instances such as the $1.3 million lost by Ghanaians to mobile money fraud. Additionally, the continent experienced a sevenfold increase in deepfake-related incidents between late 2024 and 2025, including a notable case in Uganda where a fake video of a public figure was used in a fraudulent investment scheme, resulting in over $2 million in losses.
A new ransomware strain, PromptLock, was identified in the report, which uses generative AI to autonomously write, adapt, and execute malicious code. This represents a level of customization that was previously only achievable through human effort, highlighting the evolving sophistication of AI-driven cyber threats.
Despite these advancements in cybercrime tactics, the report points out that law enforcement agencies are struggling to keep up. A staggering 92% of agencies cited a lack of technical expertise as a major barrier to adopting AI tools for combating cybercrime, with only 8% of intelligence analysts possessing advanced AI expertise. Neal Jetton, INTERPOL's Director of Cybercrime, emphasized the evolution of cyber-criminality from isolated incidents to an industrialized, borderless ecosystem.