The FBI’s expanding international campaign against scam compounds targeting Americans led to a series of arrests in Africa last week, along with the seizure of millions of dollars in potentially recoverable funds and the removal of social media accounts connected to fraud, officials said.
Known as Operation Blackout, the FBI initiative is focused on locating and dismantling overseas scam compounds through international raids, asset seizures and the disruption of websites, domains and digital infrastructure used by criminal networks.
Authorities also worked to free trafficked laborers and help return stolen funds to people defrauded by the schemes.
“Through an extraordinary partnership with the Department of Justice across several African nations, we arrested 28 alleged criminal actors, seized more than 350 devices, located at least $11 million in potentially freezable assets, freed more than 100 trafficked workers and identified over 100 potential scam victims in the United States,” FBI Director Kash Patel exclusively told News Media.
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The investigation also uncovered more than $11 million in funds that could potentially be frozen, contributed to the removal of 3.7 million social media accounts and identified more than 120 trafficked workers for repatriation. (Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images)
“This is the result of law enforcement agencies carrying out a precise, coordinated operation,” Patel said. “We are dismantling scam centers around the world and, most importantly, saving lives.”
As part of the broader FBI effort, authorities carried out raids and seized evidence and assets during last week’s “Joint Disruption Week,” a London-based initiative that produced 28 arrests in Ghana and Nigeria.
Investigators also identified more than 100 scam victims whose reported losses have surpassed $10 million.
The FBI said more than 120 trafficked workers have been identified and are expected to be returned to their home countries.
In a separate effort with Meta, authorities removed more than 3.7 million Facebook and Instagram accounts allegedly associated with fraudulent activity.
“Scams are a global threat that require a global response,” Chris Sonderby, Meta’s vice president and deputy general counsel, said in a company news release about last week’s operations. “Working with the U.K. National Crime Agency, the FBI, the DOJ and the Homeland Security Task Force, we brought the fight directly to scam centers across West Africa.
“As part of that disruption, we removed more than 3.7 million accounts, Pages and Groups targeting people in the United States, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. We also provided leads on more than 30 suspected scam centers, contributing to dozens of arrests, the rescue of trafficking victims and cryptocurrency seizures,” Sonderby said.
The FBI’s Operation Blackout produced 28 arrests in Ghana and Nigeria as authorities moved against scam compounds targeting Americans. (Kurt “CyberGuy” Knutsson)
In Ghana, 117 victims are awaiting repatriation to Nigeria, while 19 suspects were arrested and remain in custody. Nigerian authorities are expected to prosecute nine people arrested there for alleged violations of Nigerian law, the FBI said.
The actions in Ghana and Nigeria came after Patel warned that international scam operations were spreading from Southeast Asia and the Middle East into Africa.
“That is why these compounds are moving into central and sub-Saharan Africa, where we are already positioned to dismantle them,” Patel told News Media in September.
The FBI-led campaign is targeting transnational cybercrime organizations that run large scam compounds, often forcing trafficked workers to conduct fraud against unsuspecting Americans from thousands of miles away.
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Overall, Operation Blackout has led to the seizure of approximately $17 billion, the arrests of hundreds of alleged scammers and the liberation of thousands of trafficked workers.
Furthermore, more than 10,000 Americans were warned about being targeted for potential fraud before losing their money, preventing an estimated $670 million in financial losses, according to the FBI.
Many of the victims are senior citizens, Patel previously told News Media. Criminal networks have begun a geographic shift in an effort to broaden their scams, Patel has said.
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In September, a Justice Department Scam Center Strike Force team helped authorities in Madagascar take down 13 scam centers operated by Chinese organized crime syndicates and process more than 3,200 electronic devices, News Media previously reported.
Criminal networks have now begun using artificial intelligence to further their scams, experts said.
The technology gives scammers the ability to use voice cloning and send flawless emails and messages to potential victims, eliminating the language barriers that once made scams easy to spot.
“AI gives scam fighters powerful new tools,” said Jack Stubbs, the 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.”