World · Africa · 1 hr ago
Joint operation targeting West African scams leads to 28 arrests
A multinational operation targeting scams in West Africa led to 28 arrests and rescued 117 people who had been trafficked.
The effort, called Joint Disruption Week, involved law enforcement agencies and companies from several countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Nigeria and Ghana.
It also led to the removal of more than 3.7 million accounts, groups and pages from Facebook and Instagram, most of them aimed at people in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The scams included fake law enforcement calls, extortion schemes and online investment fraud that targeted people around the world.
Authorities identified more than $11 million in funds that could be frozen, but officials said tracing and legally seizing the money will take further work.
The operation also led to the seizure of hundreds of electronic devices and the sharing of more than 30 leads on scam centers.
Participating agencies plan to keep working together, though they have not set how often similar operations will take place.
A joint international law enforcement and industry operation targeting scams in West Africa led to 28 arrests and the rescue of 117 trafficking victims.
The operation also led to the takedown of more than 3.7 million accounts, groups and pages, Meta said.
Authorities identified more than $11 million in funds that could potentially be frozen and seized hundreds of electronic devices.
The operation targeted schemes including impersonation scams, digital arrest extortion and “pig butchering” fraud.
Participants described it as the largest joint scam operation to date and the first focused on West Africa.
- Who
- Law enforcement agencies and companies from multiple countries took part. The operation targeted scam operations.
- What
- A joint operation led to 28 arrests, rescued 117 trafficking victims and took down more than 3.7 million accounts, groups and pages.
- When
- The operation began in September and culminated in “Joint Disruption Week” the week before the Justice Department announced the results on Tuesday.
- Where
- It focused on West Africa and was hosted in London.
- Why
- It aimed to disrupt scams and combat fraud through joint targeting.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The operation began with a series of raids in Ghana.
The designated “Joint Disruption Week” action took place.
The Justice Department announced the operation’s results.
- Arrests
- 28
- Trafficking victims rescued
- 117
- Accounts, groups and pages removed
- More than 3.7 million
- Potentially freezable funds identified
- More than $11 million
- Operation focus
- West Africa
What people are saying
For so long, the problem of international scams seemed impossible to tackle
The aim is to bring cases in parallel and also to combat fraud together through joint targeting
Identifying the assets is the easy part, and tracing them, going after and developing probable cause within our investigations so that we can legally seize them does require a little bit of work
Sources
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