Dozens arrested in West Africa amid international crackdown on romance scams targeting Britons

Nearly 30 alleged fraudsters were arrested in a crackdown which involved more than 100 representatives from law enforcement agencies and tech companies

Dozens of suspected fraudsters, including romance scammers, targeting British victims have been arrested in West Africa following an international operation, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said.

Nearly 30 alleged fraudsters were arrested in a crackdown which saw more than 100 representatives from law enforcement agencies and tech companies gather in London for a “joint disruption week” hosted by the NCA.

The operation, which took place from October 6 to 9, focused on compounds in countries including Ghana and Nigeria, where fraudsters are said to be using social media profiles to target victims in the UK and US.

Some 3.7 million profiles linked to scams including romance fraud were shut down as part of the crackdown by Facebook and Instagram owner Meta, the NCA said.

In Sasaabi, in the Accra region of Ghana, authorities arrested 19 people, seized 303 electronic devices, and identified 117 trafficking victims.

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Meanwhile, nine arrests were made across the Delta state in Nigeria, where six laptops, 35 phones and 12 routers were seized.

The NCA’s deputy director of fraud Nick Sharp said investment fraud targeting British victims originates “primarily from overseas and West Africa”, and often involves the use of romance scams.

He told reporters at a media briefing: “They (perpetrators) use the romance fraud as a way of bringing the victim in and introducing them to investment opportunities, so there’s a lot of hybrid crossover.”

Mr Sharp added that many cases involving so-called sextortion are thought to originate in the region.

Sextortion is a form of blackmail where perpetrators threaten to share intimate photos of the victim online unless they agree to their demands.

He added that impersonation scams based on “well-known brands” or recognisable figures across social media platforms were also used to target victims in the UK.

It is not yet clear how many of the victims identified as part of the operation were British, or how much money individual victims lost, but the operation uncovered 11 million US dollars (£8.3 million) in potential freezable funds.

The operation was led by the Ghana Cyber Security Authority and supported by the NCA, Ghana Police Service, the FBI, and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria.