…rescue 117 trafficking victims
Meta, the UK National Crime Agency (NCA), and leading global tech companies including Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Coinbase, Adobe, and Starlink have dismantled a criminal scam networks operating across West Africa, including Nigeria and Ghana.
The coordinated multi-agency operation, hosted by the NCA in London in partnership with the US Department of Justice, the FBI, and multiple federal agencies, marks the largest enforcement action of its kind to date and the first broad-scale initiative targeting cyber-fraud syndicates in the West African region.
As part of the tech industry’s enforcement measures, Meta removed more than 3.7 million accounts, Pages, and Groups from Facebook and Instagram linked to West African-based syndicates.
Investigations revealed that a significant portion of these networks used impersonation profiles posing as American and British citizens to target victims in the US and UK, while also victimizing individuals across dozens of other countries, including Poland, Germany, Brazil, Japan, India, South Korea, Spain, the UAE, South Africa, Turkey, and Nigeria.
Law enforcement agencies confirmed the arrest of 28 individuals and the rescue of 117 human trafficking victims who had been detained in a residential compound in Ghana and coerced into working for the scam operations. Crucial intelligence and leads regarding more than 30 illicit scam centers were also mapped and handed over to authorities.
Major technology and security partners reported significant operational impacts. Coinbase proactively identified over 65 active scam targets, intercepting and preventing more than $415,000 in potential financial losses. Microsoft suspended accounts tied to fraudulent activity, while threat intelligence firm Silent Push mapped over 35,000 malicious domains and nearly 700 communication channels, playing a vital role in tracing the digital syndicates back to their physical operators.
Highlighting the necessity of public-private cooperation, Chris Sonderby, VP and Deputy General Counsel at Meta, stated that scams constitute a global threat requiring an equally global defense.
“This operation shows what partnership makes possible, and we’ll keep working with law enforcement and industry to pursue scammers wherever they operate,” Sonderby noted.
Nick Sharp, Deputy Director of Fraud at the NCA, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing that fraudsters operate across borders with impunity if left unchecked.
“Collaborating in this way sends a clear signal to criminals that the combined capabilities of law enforcement and industry means that we will relentlessly pursue them and the infrastructure they rely on no matter where they operate,” Sharp said.
UK Minister for Fraud Lord Hanson also praised the international effort, noting that overseas criminal gangs drive a vast majority of the fraud targeting the British public.
He added that upcoming domestic initiatives, such as the UK’s new Online Crime Centre, will build directly upon these cross-border frameworks to bring offenders to justice worldwide.
