Global law enforcement agencies, tech firms disrupt West African scam network

A group of law enforcement agencies from around the world teamed up with a handful of high-profile technology firms to disrupt West African criminal scam networks, the Justice Department (DOJ) announced Tuesday.

The operation led to “dozens” of arrests and 117 trafficking victims rescued from scam compounds in Ghana, the DOJ said . Authorities in the country seized hundreds of electronic devices, and at least $11 million was identified in potentially freezable funds

Teams with the DOJ, FBI and other U.S. federal agencies convened at the National Crime Agency (NCA) in London to exchange intelligence about a transnational criminal scam network with cybercrime authorities around the world, including those in Ghana and Nigeria.

Authorities teamed up with more than a dozen technology firms — such as Meta, OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, Starlink and Coinbase — to shut down linked accounts and stop active scams before they occurred.

Meta said in a blog post it removed more than 3.7 million accounts, pages or groups accused of targeting users in the U.S. and United Kingdom. Most of these profiles impersonated American and British users.

Microsoft suspended accounts suspected of being linked to the cybercrime, while Coinbase helped identify more than 65 victims and stopped more than $415,000 in potential scams, according to Meta.

“These victims had been forced to work for scam operations by criminal syndicates and were rescued from imprisonment in a residential compound,” Meta wrote Tuesday. “The victims were malnourished and subjected to both physical and psychological abuses by their captors, who were arrested and are facing prosecution.”

The scam network used various tactics to lure victims into giving money, according to Meta and prosecutors. This included persuading victims into fraudulent investment schemes, offering fake employee opportunities or digital tasks, or posing as law enforcement, military or government officials. It also involved criminals building fake romantic or professional relationships to lure victims into sending money.

Law enforcement agencies from Australia, Canada, India and New Zealand, as well as Interpol, assisted in the investigation.

“Fraud is a global problem and it takes partnership working across international boundaries to tackle it,” Nick Sharp, NCA deputy director of fraud, said in the DOJ’s press release.

“Hosting such a rich and dedicated team of law enforcement and technology companies at NCA’s headquarters enabled us to utilize the power of partnerships and strike back at a significant set of criminals who inflict misery on thousands of victims of fraud.”