A week of coordinated law enforcement raids across Ghana and Nigeria last week led to 28 arrests, the freeing of more than 120 trafficked workers, and the identification of over $10 million in victim losses, according to the FBI.
The operation was part of what the bureau calls Operation Blackout, a global campaign aimed at dismantling scam compounds that target Americans, often using workers brought into the schemes against their will. The West Africa raids were organized as a “Joint Disruption Week” coordinated out of London.
FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital that across multiple African countries, authorities “arrested 28 alleged criminal actors, seized over 350 devices, identified at least $11 million in potentially freezable funds, freed over 100 trafficked workers, and identified over 100 potential scam victims here at home.”
“This is what happens when law enforcement executes with precision across the inter-agency. We are demolishing criminal scam centers across the globe and truly saving lives,” Patel said.
In Ghana, 19 suspects were arrested and detained, and 117 victims are pending repatriation to Nigeria. In Nigeria, local authorities plan to prosecute nine people arrested for violations of Nigerian law.
Meta, working with the FBI, the Department of Justice, the Homeland Security Task Force and the U.K. National Crime Agency, said it removed more than 3.7 million Facebook and Instagram accounts, pages and groups linked to fraud targeting people in the U.S., U.K. and elsewhere.
“Scams are a global threat that demand a global response,” said Chris Sonderby, vice president and deputy general counsel for Meta. “Working with the U.K. National Crime Agency, the FBI, DOJ and the Homeland Security Task Force, we took the fight to scam centers across West Africa. As part of the disruption, we removed more than 3.7 million accounts, Pages and Groups targeting people in the U.S., U.K., and beyond, and shared leads on over 30 suspected scam centers resulting in dozens of arrests, the rescue of trafficking victims and cryptocurrency seizures.”
A Shifting Threat
The Ghana and Nigeria raids follow warnings from Patel earlier this year that scam networks, long concentrated in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, are moving into Africa. “That’s why you’re seeing the migration of these scam compounds to central and sub-Saharan Africa, which is where we are already pre-positioned to take them off,” Patel told Fox News Digital in September.
Overall, the FBI says Operation Blackout has led to roughly $17 billion in seized funds, hundreds of arrests, and the freeing of thousands of trafficked workers worldwide. The bureau also says it has warned more than 10,000 Americans they were being targeted before they lost money, preventing an estimated $670 million in losses. Patel has said many victims are senior citizens.
In September, a Justice Department Scam Center Strike Force helped authorities in Madagascar shut down 13 scam centers run by Chinese organized crime syndicates and process more than 3,200 electronic devices.
Investigators say criminal networks are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence, using voice cloning and polished, AI-generated messages to make scams harder to detect. “AI gives scam fighters powerful new tools,” said Jack Stubbs, lead scams investigator at OpenAI. “At OpenAI, we’re using AI to disrupt scam operations and help people spot scams. By sharing insights responsibly with industry and law enforcement partners, we can identify scam networks across platforms and build stronger collective defenses.”
