A major operation conducted by INTERPOL across 14 African countries has resulted in the arrest of 260 suspected scammers. Ghanaian authorities played a crucial role, apprehending 68 individuals and seizing a significant amount of evidence.
According to an INTERPOL statement, this coordinated crackdown, known as Operation Contender 3.0, targeted criminal networks that exploit social media and dating platforms to carry out romance scams and sextortion. These scams have caused estimated losses of $2.8 million to 1,463 identified victims worldwide.
During the operation, police identified IP addresses, digital infrastructures, domains, and social media profiles linked to members of these scam syndicates. The leads obtained from this investigation led to the arrests, as well as the seizure of USB drives, SIM cards, and forged documents. Additionally, 81 cybercrime infrastructures were dismantled 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, emphasised the increasing threat of cybercrime, stating, “Cybercrime units across Africa are reporting a sharp rise in digitally enabled crimes such as sextortion and romance scams. The expansion of online platforms has provided new opportunities for criminal networks to exploit victims, resulting in both financial losses and psychological harm.” He stressed the importance of collaboration between INTERPOL, its member countries, and private sector partners like Group-IB and Trend Micro.
This partnership was crucial for the success of the operation, allowing for enhanced data sharing and rapid enforcement actions that led to the dismantling of 81 cybercrime infrastructures.
The operation uncovered various methods used by criminals across the participating nations. In Senegal, police arrested 22 suspects who impersonated celebrities to emotionally manipulate victims, resulting in a loss of approximately $34,000 from 120 individuals. In Côte d’Ivoire, authorities dismantled a ring that blackmailed individuals after deceiving them into sharing intimate images, leading to 24 arrests and the identification of 809 victims. Additionally, in Angola, eight individuals were apprehended for using social media and fraudulent documents to create fake identities for targeting victims.
Source: Kweku Zurek
