A major International Police (INTERPOL) operation across 14 African countries has led to the arrest of 260 suspected scammers, with Ghanaian authorities playing a pivotal role by apprehending 68 individuals and seizing a significant haul of evidence.
According to an Interpol statement, the coordinated crackdown, dubbed Operation Contender 3.0, targeted criminal networks exploiting social media and dating platforms to carry out romance scams and sextortion, causing an estimated $2.8 million in losses to 1,463 identified victims globally.
During the operation, police identified IP addresses, digital infrastructures, domains and social media profiles linked to members of the scam syndicates. These leads and the subsequent arrests also resulted in the seizure of USB drives, SIM cards, and forged documents, as well as the takedown of 81 cybercrime infrastructures across Africa.
The operation, which ran from July 28 to August 11, 2025 and was funded by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, resulted in the seizure of 1,235 electronic devices continent-wide.
Ghana’s contribution was particularly substantial, with police confiscating 835 devices, identifying 108 victims, and uncovering financial losses totalling $450,000, of which $70,000 has already been recovered.
Ghanaian authorities arrested 68 individuals, seized 835 devices and identified 108 victims. Their investigations revealed USD 450,000 in financial losses, with USD 70,000 recovered," the statement said.
"For romance scams, the suspects had used fake profiles, forged identities and stolen images to deceive victims. The scammers extracted payments using a range of schemes, including fake courier and customs shipment fees. In sextortion cases, offenders secretly recorded intimate videos during explicit chats and used them for blackmail".
According to INTERPOL, investigations in Ghana revealed that suspects “used fake profiles, forged identities and stolen images to deceive victims,” often extracting payments through elaborate schemes involving “fake courier and customs shipment fees.”
In cases of sextortion, offenders were found to have secretly recorded intimate videos during explicit online chats to blackmail their targets.
Cyril Gout, Acting Executive Director of Police Services at INTERPOL, highlighted the growing threat, stating, “Cybercrime units across Africa are reporting a sharp rise in digital-enabled crimes such as sextortion and romance scams. The growth of online platforms has opened new opportunities for criminal networks to exploit victims, causing both financial loss and psychological harm.” He emphasised that collaboration between INTERPOL, its member countries, and private sector partners like Group-IB and Trend Micro was crucial to the operation's success, enabling enhanced data sharing and swift enforcement actions that led to the takedown of 81 cybercrime infrastructures.
The operation revealed varied modus operandi across the participating nations. In Senegal, police arrested 22 suspects who impersonated celebrities to emotionally manipulate 120 victims out of approximately $34,000. Authorities in Côte d’Ivoire dismantled a ring that blackmailed individuals after tricking them into sharing intimate images, resulting in 24 arrests and the identification of 809 victims.
Meanwhile, in Angola, eight individuals were apprehended for using social media and fraudulent documents to create fake identities to target victims.
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