Meta Removes More Than 3.7 Million Facebook and Instagram Accounts in West African Scam Crackdown

Nigeria and Ghana have become focal points of an international operation aimed at West African online fraud networks, an effort that prompted Meta to take down more than 3.7 million accounts, Pages, and Groups on Facebook and Instagram. The cross-border campaign involved law enforcement bodies from 10 countries and 15 large technology firms. It produced 28 arrests, pinpointed more than 30 locations suspected of being scam centers, and led to the rescue of 117 people identified as victims of human trafficking in Ghana. The UK National Crime Agency hosted the initiative, working alongside the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI. Its objective was to break up organized criminal groups active throughout West Africa. Meta called the action its first coordinated, broad-scale effort to target the region's scam operations. According to investigators, most of the deleted profiles focused on victims in the United States and the United Kingdom, using false accounts that posed as American and British people. Other intended targets were in Germany, Brazil, Japan, India, South Africa, Turkey, and Nigeria. Technology companies that took part included Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Coinbase, Adobe, and Starlink. The DOJ reported that Nigerian authorities detained nine people and confiscated 53 electronic devices in raids. In Ghana, police carried out an operation in Sasaabi, close to Accra, arresting 19 people and seizing 303 electronic devices. Officials also found 117 people who were allegedly being held involuntarily and forced to carry out digital fraud. The DOJ said those rescued were waiting to be returned to Nigeria. Investigators documented 89 fraud victims connected to the networks in question, with financial losses estimated at about $8.3 million. The results highlighted the serious human cost of cybercrime, especially where online fraud overlaps with human trafficking. The criminal operations under scrutiny included cryptocurrency investment fraud, fake job offers, romance scams, e-commerce fraud, and schemes in which scammers impersonated law enforcement or military personnel. Authorities also moved against recovery scams, in which criminals approach earlier victims and ask for advance payments while falsely claiming they can recover money that was lost.