American victims have lost nearly US$10 million to online fraud schemes allegedly operated from scam compounds in Ghana, according to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which says more than 300 electronic devices have been seized in a major crackdown.
The development was announced on October 8, 2026, as the FBI outlined results from its global Operation Blackout campaign, an effort targeting organised networks behind cyber-enabled fraud.
The agency says its Ghana operation has so far identified 89 victims and resulted in more than 130 people being arrested or detained.
But the FBI has stressed that the group should not be viewed entirely as suspected fraudsters.
Some of those detained are believed to have been victims of human trafficking who were allegedly forced to work inside the scam compounds. Authorities say steps are being taken to assist those individuals and arrange their return to their respective home countries.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the investigation forms part of a wider international campaign against criminal organisations exploiting technology to defraud people and facilitate trafficking.
“These scam compounds target American citizens and destroy lives,” Patel said while announcing the operation. “We are crushing them in every corner of the world.”
The FBI alleges that the compounds were used to conduct online scams targeting people in the United States, with investigators putting the losses suffered by the identified victims at close to US$10 million.
Patel said Operation Blackout is aimed not only at disrupting the financial operations of scam networks but also at protecting people who are exploited within them.
“Operation Blackout is delivering results,” he said. “We are taking down criminal enterprises, rescuing victims and preventing further losses.”
The Ghana operation has so far yielded more than 300 electronic devices, which investigators are expected to examine as they work to establish the full scope of the alleged networks and their activities.
The FBI has not disclosed where in Ghana the operation took place. It has also not released the identities of those detained or provided details of the Ghanaian security agencies that may have assisted with the operation.
The latest development highlights the increasingly complex nature of online fraud operations, where criminal networks can combine financial scams with the trafficking and exploitation of workers.
The FBI says its wider Operation Blackout campaign has already resulted in the seizure of approximately US$17 billion in assets, hundreds of arrests and the rescue of thousands of trafficking victims.
The agency also says the global operation has helped prevent hundreds of millions of dollars in potential losses by warning people before they were defrauded.
Investigations into the Ghana-linked network are continuing, with the FBI expected to provide additional information as authorities establish the identities, roles and circumstances of those connected to the alleged scam compounds.
