Authorities in 14 African countries have arrested more than 260 people in a sweeping crackdown on online fraud schemes that investigators say preyed on victims through romance scams and sextortion.
The coordinated effort — dubbed Operation Contender 3.0 — ran from July 28 to Aug. 11 and involved police in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Ghana, South Africa and 10 other nations. Officers seized 1,235 electronic devices, from USB drives to SIM cards, and dismantled 81 online platforms tied to the scams, according to INTERPOL.
In total, investigators linked 1,463 victims to the networks and estimated losses at nearly $2.8 million.
“This growth of online platforms has opened new opportunities for criminal networks to exploit victims,” said Cyril Gout, INTERPOL’s acting executive director of police services. He described a sharp rise in romance scams and sextortion cases across Africa, warning of both “financial loss and psychological harm.”
The tactics were often simple but devastating. In romance scams, suspects posed as potential partners online, using stolen photos and forged identities to win trust before demanding money for fake courier fees or supposed emergencies. In sextortion cases, criminals secretly recorded victims during explicit video chats, then threatened to release the footage unless paid.
Ghana reported the largest number of arrests: 68 suspects and more than 800 devices seized. Police there said 108 victims lost $450,000, though investigators managed to recover about $70,000.
In Senegal, 22 suspects allegedly impersonated celebrities on social media and dating sites, defrauding 120 victims of roughly $34,000. Officers also seized forged IDs and money transfer records.
Police in Côte d’Ivoire uncovered one of the most extensive networks, arresting 24 people tied to a sextortion ring that targeted more than 800 victims. Angola’s authorities detained eight individuals accused of using fake documents to scam 28 victims at home and abroad.
The crackdown, supported by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, relied heavily on intelligence sharing between police and private cyber firms Group-IB and Trend Micro. That collaboration helped identify IP addresses, domains and digital infrastructure behind the networks.
INTERPOL has warned that cyber-enabled crime is becoming a major threat across the continent. In its 2025 Africa Cyberthreat Assessment Report, released in June, two-thirds of surveyed countries said online offences now make up a medium-to-high share of overall crime.
For investigators, the recent arrests mark progress. But the scale of the problem, they acknowledge, goes well beyond the hundreds of suspects caught in this operation.
