A week-long international operation against West African scam networks produced 28 arrests, identified 117 people as trafficking victims and led technology companies to remove more than 3.7 million accounts, pages and groups. Authorities announced the results of “Joint Disruption Week” on October 13.
Largest Joint Scam Operation and the First Focused on West Africa
The UK National Crime Agency hosted the operation in London beginning October 6. It worked with the FBI, the Department of Justice, the Secret Service, the Treasury, Homeland Security Investigations and police from Ghana, Nigeria, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and India. Fifteen technology companies took part, including Meta, Microsoft, Google, Coinbase, OpenAI, Starlink and Adobe.
Authorities billed it as the largest joint scam operation to date and the first focused on West Africa. The victims of the scams are mainly in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Raids in Ghana and Nigeria Produce 28 Arrests
In Ghana, a raid at Sasaabi near Accra led to 19 arrests and the seizure of 303 devices. Nigeria accounted for nine arrests. Across the operation, hundreds of devices were seized and more than 30 scam centers were flagged.
117 People Identified as Trafficking Victims
Authorities identified 117 people as trafficking victims, who are awaiting repatriation to Nigeria. Their presence indicates that some of the scam operations relied on coerced labor rather than only on willing participants.
Financial Losses and Frozen Funds
Investigators identified 89 scam victims in Ghana who lost an estimated $8.3 million. They also located more than $11 million in funds that can be frozen, which gives authorities a path to recovering money in some cases.
The Scams Under Investigation
The operation covered several fraud types. They include law enforcement impersonation, “digital arrest” extortion, pig butchering cryptocurrency investment fraud, romance scams, job scams and non-delivery scams.
Tech Companies Removed 3.7 Million Accounts
The technology firms removed more than 3.7 million accounts, pages and groups. Meta gave the same 3.7 million figure for Facebook and Instagram alone, and the Justice Department did not break the total down by company. The sources therefore do not make clear whether Meta accounts for the entire total or whether the figures describe the same set of removals counted two ways.
Prosecutions, Asset Freezes and Takedowns Follow
The response combines prosecutions in Ghana, asset freezes and the account takedowns. The arrests in Ghana and Nigeria feed local prosecutions, while the frozen funds and removed accounts act on the infrastructure and proceeds of the fraud.
The structure of the operation is as notable as its totals. Putting investigators from eight countries and staff from 15 companies in one London operation allowed each side to act on what the other found: police could identify physical sites and devices while platform teams could remove the accounts that fed victims to those sites. The sources do not describe what action Starlink, one of the participating companies, took.
The operation’s billing as the first aimed at West Africa leaves open how it compares with earlier efforts in other regions. The 117 people awaiting repatriation to Nigeria show that arrest counts capture only part of the human toll. The sources do not say whether further arrests or charges are expected from the devices seized.
89 Ghana Victims Lost an Estimated $8.3 Million
The 89 Ghana victims who lost an estimated $8.3 million are a subset of the harm. The scams target victims mainly in the United States and the United Kingdom, so the identified Ghanaian victims and the funds identified for freezing, above $11 million, represent only the portion of the activity that investigators have traced so far.
