Law enforcement agencies across North Africa and the Middle East have disrupted a significant cybercriminal network in a four-month operation spanning October to February. **Interpol** announced that Operation Ramz, backed by Qatar and the European Union, led to the arrest of 201 individuals and the identification of hundreds of compromised devices. ### International Cooperation The operation involved collaboration with cybersecurity companies and the governments of Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Tunisia, and the UAE. This broad coalition highlights the growing need for international cooperation in combating cybercrime. ### Details of the Raids Investigators uncovered hundreds of compromised devices used in the cybercriminal operations and notified the device owners. Raids across the region revealed various illicit activities: * In Jordan, a compound used for financial fraud scams was dismantled. Victims were lured into investing in fake financial trading platforms that were shut down after deposits were made. Authorities discovered that the 15 individuals running the scams were victims of human trafficking, recruited under false pretenses and forced to participate. * In Algeria, one person was arrested after a phishing-as-a-service platform was traced to a server in the country. The server and multiple devices containing phishing software were seized. * In Morocco, a raid on a compound led to the discovery of hard drives containing banking data and software used for phishing schemes. Three individuals were arrested. * In Oman, a raid uncovered a server infected with malware and used for cyberattacks. ### Operation Ramz Results In addition to the 201 arrests, Operation Ramz identified 382 other suspects, seized 53 servers, and identified 3,867 victims. ### Industry Involvement Cybersecurity firm **Team Cymru** played a crucial role in the operation, identifying malicious servers used for phishing, malware distribution, and large-scale cyber scams targeting individuals in the region. ### Addressing the Growing Threat Operation Ramz is part of a larger global effort to combat cyber scam operations and phishing-as-a-service tools. These tools have significantly lowered the barrier to entry for cybercriminals, leading to billions of dollars in losses for victims worldwide. Recent crackdowns in Southeast Asia have pushed cyber scam operations to proliferate across the Middle East and Africa, as displaced criminals seek new locations to restart their activities. Indonesian police recently arrested hundreds of individuals running cyber scam operations and are considering changes to visa rules to prevent further exploitation of the country.