The UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has hosted a major operation targeting cyber fraud and scams originating from across Africa, culminating in almost 30 arrests – principally in Ghana and Nigeria – and the removal and closure of 3.7 million online profiles and accounts.
Over 100 law enforcement personnel from overseas agencies – including members of the Five Eyes Law Enforcement Group (FELEG) such as the FBI, the Nigerian Police Force and Ghana’s Cyber Security Authority convened in London to participate in the “operational intensification” targeting organised cyber criminals and their infrastructure.
The three-day operation culminated in a series of on-the-ground actions targeting individuals who use fake social media profiles to carry out investment and impersonation fraud, among other things. Industry representatives from the likes of Google and Meta also joined in, working with Report Fraud to provide a stream of data identifying their targets.
“Fraud is a global problem and it takes partnership working across international boundaries to tackle it,” said NCA deputy director of fraud, Nick Sharp.
“Hosting such a rich and dedicated team of law enforcement and technology companies at NCA’s headquarters enabled us to utilise the power of partnerships and strike back at a significant set of criminals who inflict misery on thousands of victims of fraud.
“Fraudsters can operate from anywhere and will target victims both domestically and globally. The NCA will continue to work with international and private sector partners to tackle fraudsters working upstream, overseas and online,” added Sharp.
“Collaborating in this way sends a clear signal to criminals that the combined capabilities of law enforcement and industry means that we will relentlessly pursue them and the infrastructure they rely on no matter where they operate,” he said.
Jeanine Pirro, US attorney for the District of Columbia (DC) and founder of the Scam Center Strike Force, added: “Transnational fraud demands a transnational response. I have partnered with the NCA and the Crown Prosecutor for England and Wales to push forward cases on both sides of the Atlantic; criminals are not hindered by borders and neither are we. We will deploy our team wherever in the world transnational criminals target innocent victims.”
Results delivered
Some of the more notable success stories to emerge from the operation include the arrests of 19 people and the seizure of 303 electronic devices in the town of Sasaabi, outside the Ghanaian capital Accra. A total of 117 people were also identified as victims of human trafficking and are now set to return to their homes.
Ghanaian police also led a series of raids on scam centres in the Sasaabi area at the end of September, resulting in additional arrests and property seizures. A number of people taken into custody were also identified as having been forced into criminal activity after being abducted and trafficked.
Meanwhile, in Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta State, nine arrests were made alongside the seizure of six laptops, 35 smartphones and 12 routers.
And in addition to the suspension of 3.7 million fake accounts and profiles by Meta, a total of $11m in potential freezable funds were identified by the private sector participants.
Investment fraud
Investment fraud such as that allegedly perpetrated by those arrested is a widespread form of fraud that lures people with promises of guaranteed returns for low- or no-risk investments that turn out to be nothing of the kind. Often, they target investment opportunities in areas such as digital assets and cryptocurrency, Ponzi and pyramid schemes, or property.
Investment fraudsters will use a range of tactics to fool their targets, such as presenting endorsements from well-known figures, inviting them to join exclusive investment groups, and high-pressure tactics such as creating a sense of urgency with time-limited special offers. Such schemes are often carefully concocted to drip feed some small returns to the unsuspecting victim to convince them they are legitimate.
Frequently, victims will also be coerced into handing over more money than their initial ‘investment’ in the form of supposed ‘taxes’ or ‘handling fees’ required to ‘unlock’ their money.
More information on how investment fraud works can be found at the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Centre (IC3), and more general cyber fraud protection advice is available from the National Cyber Security Centre. If you are located in the UK and believe you have been a victim of investment fraud, you can also report it to Report Fraud in confidence.
