NAIROBI, Sept 26 (The African Portal) – Police across 14 African countries have arrested 260 people suspected of running online scams, including romance fraud and sextortion schemes, in an operation coordinated by Interpol and backed by Britain, the global police agency said on Thursday.
The July–August crackdown identified more than 1,400 victims in countries including Ghana, Kenya, Angola and Ivory Coast, with losses estimated at nearly $2.8 million, Interpol said.
“It doesn’t take long before you develop a connection with somebody … and very quickly this trust is shattered,” Neal Jetton, Interpol’s director of cybercrime, told the BBC’s Newsday programme, describing how scammers lure victims.
Authorities seized hundreds of electronic devices, forged documents, SIM cards and money transfer records, and dismantled 81 cybercrime networks.
In Ghana, where 68 suspects were detained, police said they identified 108 victims and recovered $70,000 of an estimated $450,000 lost. In Senegal, 22 suspects were arrested over a network that impersonated celebrities and defrauded 120 victims of about $34,000.
Ivory Coast police detained 24 suspects and said they uncovered more than 800 victims targeted with fake online profiles. In Angola, authorities arrested eight suspects linked to 28 victims.
Interpol said online scams are among the most reported cyber threats in Africa. “Cyber-crime units across Africa are reporting a sharp rise in digital-enabled crimes such as sextortion and romance scams,” said Cyril Gout, Interpol’s acting executive director of police services.
“The growth of online platforms has opened new opportunities for criminal networks to exploit victims, causing both financial loss and psychological harm,” he added.
Other countries involved in the operation included Benin, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, Guinea, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.
This story was written with additional files from the BBC
