Meta has removed more than 3.7 million accounts, Pages and Groups from Facebook and Instagram in a crackdown on suspected online scam networks operating across West Africa, with Nigeria and Ghana among the countries targeted in the operation.
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The coordinated exercise, involving law enforcement agencies from 10 countries and 15 technology companies, resulted in 28 arrests, the identification of more than 30 suspected scam centres and the rescue of 117 people allegedly trafficked and forced to work in scam operations in Ghana.
The operation was hosted by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA), in partnership with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Meta described the exercise as the first coordinated effort to broadly target scam networks across the region.
According to the company, most of the accounts removed targeted victims in the United States and the United Kingdom, with fraudsters allegedly using profiles that impersonated American and British users.
Other reported targets were in Germany, Brazil, Japan, India, South Africa, Turkey and Nigeria.
Technology companies that participated in the operation included Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Coinbase, Adobe and Starlink.
The US Department of Justice said Nigerian authorities arrested nine people and seized 53 electronic devices during the operation.
In Ghana, authorities arrested 19 people in Sasaabi, near Accra, and seized 303 electronic devices. They also identified 117 people allegedly held against their will and compelled to participate in scam activities.
The DOJ said the victims were awaiting repatriation to Nigeria.
Authorities also identified 89 people allegedly defrauded, with estimated financial losses of about $8.3 million.
The operation targeted several forms of online fraud, including cryptocurrency investment scams, fake job offers, romance scams, fraudulent online sales and impersonation of law enforcement officers and military personnel.
Investigators also focused on recovery scams, in which fraudsters demand upfront payments from previous victims while promising to recover money lost in earlier schemes.
Microsoft suspended accounts suspected of involvement in the activities, while cybersecurity firm Silent Push mapped more than 35,000 malicious domains and nearly 700 communication channels linked to suspected scam centres.
Coinbase said it identified more than 65 active scam victims and prevented potential losses exceeding $415,000.
The DOJ also said private-sector partners had identified more than $11 million in funds that could potentially be frozen.
Meta’s Vice President and Deputy General Counsel, Chris Sonderby, said the operation demonstrated the importance of international cooperation in tackling online fraud.
“Scams are a global threat that demand a global response,” he said.
Sonderby added that information shared during the operation had helped authorities identify more than 30 suspected scam centres, contributing to arrests, victim rescues and cryptocurrency seizures.
The NCA’s Deputy Director of Fraud, Nick Sharp, said international partnerships were essential because fraudsters could operate in one country while targeting victims in another.
He pledged continued cooperation between law enforcement agencies and private-sector partners to disrupt criminal networks and the infrastructure supporting their activities.
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