Washington, Oct 13 (IANS) An international operation involving law enforcement agencies from the United States, India and several other countries has dismantled major online fraud networks operating from West Africa, resulting in 28 arrests, the removal of more than 3.7 million fraudulent social media accounts and the identification of 117 human trafficking victims, the US Justice Department announced on Tuesday.
The operation also identified more than $11 million in potentially freezable funds and generated intelligence on more than 30 suspected scam centres, officials said.
The week-long crackdown, beginning October 6, brought together American, British, Indian, Canadian, Australian, Nigerian and Ghanaian authorities, along with international police organisations and leading technology companies.
It was the first coordinated international operation focused specifically on West African scam networks, according to the Justice Department.
The operation targeted criminal enterprises running cryptocurrency investment fraud, impersonation schemes, digital arrest extortion and other online scams affecting victims in the United States, Britain and elsewhere.
In Ghana, authorities arrested 19 suspects in Sasaabi, near Accra, and seized 303 electronic devices.
They also identified 117 suspected human trafficking victims awaiting repatriation to Nigeria. Investigators identified another 89 fraud victims who had suffered estimated losses of $8.3 million.
In Nigeria, authorities arrested nine suspects and seized 53 electronic devices during the enforcement period.
The crackdown was coordinated through an international Joint Disruption Week hosted by Britain’s National Crime Agency in London.
India was among the participating countries, although the Justice Department did not specify the role played by Indian investigators or whether any arrests were made in India.
Several technology and financial companies, including Meta, Google, Microsoft, Adobe, OpenAI, Binance, Coinbase, Chainalysis and Starlink, participated in the operation.
According to the Justice Department, private companies voluntarily removed fraudulent accounts, pages and groups from their platforms and shared intelligence with law enforcement.
The companies also helped identify suspected scam centres and trace cryptocurrency linked to criminal operations.
“Transnational fraud demands a transnational response,” said Jeanine Ferris Pirro, US Attorney for the District of Columbia and founder of the Scam Center Strike Force.
“I have partnered with the NCA and the Crown Prosecutor for England and Wales to push forward cases on both sides of the Atlantic; criminals are not hindered by borders and neither are we,” she said.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the operation demonstrated the effectiveness of cooperation between governments and private companies.
“Thanks to brilliant partnership with the Department of Justice and the private sector, across multiple African countries, we arrested dozens of criminal actors, seized hundreds of devices, identified at least $11 million in potentially freezable funds, and truly saved lives,” Patel said.
Assistant Attorney General A Tysen Duva said the coordinated action represented the beginning of a broader effort to dismantle international cybercrime operations.
“The millions of bogus social media accounts taken down and dozens of arrests that took place as part of Joint Disruption Week are just the beginning,” he said.
–IANS
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