LYON, France (AFP) — Police in 16 African countries have arrested 651 people in recent weeks, breaking up a major cybercrime network that extorted millions of dollars from victims, Interpol announced Thursday.

The eight-week operation dismantled a network that swindled more than $45 million from hundreds, possibly thousands, of victims — most of them in Africa — said the international police agency.

The online frauds ranged from high-yield investment scams, mobile money fraud and fraudulent mobile loan applications, it said.

Investigators also seized 2,341 devices and shut down 1,442 malicious IPs, domains and servers used to carry out the scams, Interpol added. The raids were carried out in December and January.

“These organised cybercriminal syndicates inflict devastating financial and psychological harm on individuals, businesses and entire communities with their false promises,” said Neal Jetton, head of Interpol’s cybercrime directorate.

“I encourage all victims of cybercrime to reach out to law enforcement for help,” he added.

The countries involved in the operation were Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.