US lauds tech giants' role in cracking West African scam centers

The US Justice Department on Tuesday praised Meta and other tech giants for their support in dismantling online scams in West Africa.

The FBI last week announced the arrest of scores of internet fraudsters accused of netting more than $10 million in scams in an operation conducted with Ghanaian authorities.

The Justice Department provided more details on Tuesday, saying it was coordinated with the UK's National Crime Agency and describing it as the first of its kind in West Africa.


Nineteen suspected scammers were arrested in a suburb of the Ghanaian capital Accra, while 117 human trafficking victims are now awaiting repatriation to Nigeria, a department statement said, adding that nine other suspects were arrested in Nigeria.

Jeanine Pirro, the US attorney for the District of Columbia, told journalists that the leads in the investigation "were voluntarily provided" by Meta, setting an example for public-private cooperation "to dismantle criminal networks everywhere across the world."

In all, private companies reported to the Justice Department that they removed more than 3.7 million social media accounts tied to fraud as part of the operation, the statement said.

Those companies also included Adobe, Binance, Coinbase, Google, Microsoft and OpenAI.

"Criminal scam centers operating in West Africa mirror those uncovered in Southeast Asia," the statement said.

It described the centers as "highly organized enterprises that recruit workers, train them in social engineering, and deploy multi‑platform fraud campaigns targeting global victims."