Some 260 suspected cyber scammers have been arrested in a sting operation carried out across 14 African countries.
The operation, coordinated by Interpol and funded by the UK, targeted criminal networks using social media and digital platforms to extract money from victims in romance scams, and in so-called 'sextortion,' where victims are blackmailed using explicit imagery.
More than 1,400 victims across Ghana, Kenya, Angola and elsewhere were identified, with Interpol estimating their losses at nearly $2.8m (£2.1m).
The global police network said it was committed to 'disrupting and dismantling the groups that prey on vulnerable individuals online.'
During the crackdown carried out between July and August, police identified IP addresses, digital infrastructures, domains and social media profiles linked to members of the scam syndicates.
These leads and subsequent arrests resulted in the seizure of USB drives, SIM cards, and forged documents, as well as the takedown of 81 cybercrime infrastructures across Africa, Interpol stated.
Cyril Gout, the acting executive director of police services at Interpol, remarked that the rise in digital-enabled crimes such as sextortion and romance scams was alarming.
He noted, 'The growth of online platforms has opened new opportunities for criminal networks to exploit victims, causing both financial loss and psychological harm.'
In Ghana, authorities arrested about 68 suspects, seizing 835 devices and identifying 108 victims. Investigators recovered $70,000 from estimated losses of $450,000 incurred by victims.
Scammers in Ghana employed various schemes, including charging fake courier and customs shipment fees, and blackmailing victims using secretly recorded intimate videos.
In Senegal, 22 suspects were arrested, with a network that impersonated celebrities defrauding 120 victims of approximately $34,000. During the operation, 65 devices were seized along with forged identification documents.
Similarly, 24 suspects were arrested in Ivory Coast while 28 victims were identified, linked to fake online profiles used for blackmail.
This extensive operation included other nations such as Benin, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia.