Interpol has arrested 260 people across 14 African countries in a coordinated crackdown on online romance and extortion scams that defrauded more than 1,400 victims of nearly $2.8 million.
According to a report by DW Africa, the large-scale operation highlights the growing threat of digital fraud targeting vulnerable individuals worldwide.
Ghanaian authorities arrested 68 individuals, seized 835 devices, and identified 108 victims. Their investigations revealed USD 450,000 in financial losses, with USD 70,000 recovered. For romance scams, the suspects had used fake profiles, forged identities, and stolen images to deceive victims.
The scammers extracted payments using a range of schemes, including fake courier and customs shipment fees. In sextortion cases, offenders secretly recorded intimate videos during explicit chats and used them for blackmail.
In Senegal, police arrested 22 suspects, uncovering a network that impersonated celebrities and used emotional manipulation on social media and dating platforms to defraud 120 victims of approximately USD 34,000.
A total of 65 devices, forged identification documents, and money transfer records were seized during the operation.
Police in Cote d’Ivoire dismantled a cybercrime ring that created fake profiles online to manipulate vulnerable individuals into sharing intimate images. Once in possession of compromising material, the criminals blackmailed victims, demanding payments to prevent public exposure. Police arrested 24 suspects, seized 29 devices and identified 809 victims.
In Angola, authorities arrested 8 individuals and identified 28 domestic and international victims, primarily targeted via social media. Offenders used fraudulent documents to create fake identities, facilitating financial transactions and concealing their real identities while engaging victims.
Interpol said the arrests underscore how online romance fraud has become a global menace, exploiting trust and emotions to defraud unsuspecting victims.
The agency has pledged to intensify international cooperation and intelligence sharing to dismantle criminal networks behind these scams.
