Global Sting Detains 30 in West Africa Over Online Scams
Operation targets romance and investment fraud, seizing millions in potential funds and removing millions of fraudulent accounts.
Callum Smith
A global operation has led to the detention of approximately 30 suspects in West Africa.
These funds are directly tied to sextortion, romance fraud, and impersonation schemes that preyed on victims in both the UK and the US.
Meta removed approximately 3.7 million fraudulent accounts during the operation.
The Ghana Cyber Security Authority spearheaded the operation, receiving crucial support from the National Crime Agency (NCA), the Ghana Police Service, the FBI, and Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
Criminals operating from these locations reportedly used social media accounts to target individuals across the UK and US.
Police in Nigeria's Delta state arrested nine individuals and seized electronic devices.
Nick Sharp stated that many cases involving so-called sextortion are thought to originate in the region.
They (perpetrators) use the romance fraud as a way of bringing the victim in and introducing them to investment opportunities, so there’s a lot of hybrid crossover.
Sharp also noted that impersonation scams, based on 'well-known brands' or recognizable figures across social media platforms, targeted victims in the UK.
He explained the hybrid nature of these schemes, stating, "They (perpetrators) use the romance fraud as a way of bringing the victim in and introducing them to investment opportunities, so there’s a lot of hybrid crossover."
It remains unclear how many of the identified victims were British or the precise financial losses incurred by individual victims.