From fake lovers to sextortionists: 260 scammers arrested in Africa

INTERPOL has announced the arrest of 260 alleged romance scammers, sextortionists, and online fraudsters as part of a multi-national operation across Africa.

Authorities claim that they have identified more than 1400 scam victims, estimating total losses at almost US $2.8 million.

1,235 electronic devices were seized by law enforcement agencies as part of the crackdown, including USB drives, SIM cards, as well as forged identity documents. In addition, authorities claim to have dismantled the infrastructure of 81 cybercriminal infrastructures across Africa, taking control of websites and servers used to lure victims and launder payments.

The arrests took place as "Operation Contender 3.0", and spanned 14 African nations: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia.

As we described on Hot for Security earlier this year, digital crime is surging across Africa. A recent INTERPOL survey found that two-thirds of countries reported that cybercrime represents a medium-to-high proportion of their total reported crime, with some countries claiming it exceeds 30% of all crime.

Just last month we reported on how Ghanaian fraudsters have been extradited to the United States after being accused of conning more than US $100 million in a scheme which saw them allegedly allegedly posing as romantic partners to trick victims into transferring money.

Meanwhile, sextortion attacks - where criminals use either stolen or AI-generated sexual images as part of a scheme to secretly record intimate videos during explicit chats - are a particularly significant problem, with 60% of African countries having reported a rise in this kind of blackmail.

For individuals targeted in such attacks, the emotional toll can be devastating/ Not only do victims lose sometimes significant sums of money, they also suffer the humiliation of knowing that they were duped by a fraudster.

Romance scams and sextortion are attractive to criminals in Africa in part because they pose a low barrier to entry (all that is needed is a laptop or a smartphone, with no detailed technical knowledge required), with a high potential reward. Even if only small individual amounts of money are extorted from victims, they can soon add up quickly.

Furthermore, many victims may feel too embarrassed to report what has happened to them to the authorities, increasing the chances that the perpetrators will successfully strike again.

The arrest of 260 suspects across Africa proves that romance scams and sextortion are not nice crimes. but they are part of a growing, global industry.

Operations like INTERPOL's Contender 3.0 are essential for disrupting criminal gangs, but the best defence of all is awareness and education. The more we talk about sextortion and romance scams, and the less we stigmatise the victims, the better.