At least 260 suspects in online romance scams arrested across Africa, Interpol says

Published on 26/09/2025 - 14:21 GMT+2

A crackdown connected cybercrime coordinated by Interpol has led to nan arrests of 260 group suspected of links to online romance and extortion scams, nan world policing organisation said connected Friday.

The cognition took spot successful July and August crossed 14 countries successful Africa and focused connected scams successful which perpetrators build online romanticist relationships to extract money from targets aliases blackmail them pinch definitive images, Interpol said.

Altogether nan scams targeted much than 1,400 victims who mislaid astir $2.8 cardinal (€2.4 million), nan organisation said.

"Cybercrime units crossed Africa are reporting a crisp emergence successful digital-enabled crimes specified arsenic sextortion and romance scams," Cyril Gout, acting executive head of constabulary services astatine Interpol, said successful nan statement.

"The maturation of online platforms has opened caller opportunities for criminal networks to utilization victims, causing some financial nonaccomplishment and psychological harm," he added.

Interpol says Ghanaian authorities arrested 68 suspects successful romance and sextortion scams. They are accused of utilizing clone identities to instrumentality victims into paying clone shipment fees and secretly signaling definitive videos for blackmail.

In Senegal, constabulary arrested 22 suspects who allegedly posed arsenic celebrities connected societal media and making love platforms to scam complete 100 group retired of astir $34,000 (€29,135), Interpol said.

The organisation besides said authorities successful Côte d'Ivoire arrested 24 suspects accused of utilizing clone profiles to get and blackmail victims pinch friendly images.

Interpol, which has 196 personnel countries, is nan world’s largest world constabulary web to combat world crime.

Headquartered successful Lyon, it useful to thief nationalist constabulary forces pass pinch each different and way suspects and criminals successful areas specified arsenic counterterrorism, financial crime, kid pornography, cybercrime and organised crime.

In caller years, it has grappled pinch caller challenges, including a increasing caseload of cybercrime and kid activity abuse, and expanding divisions among its personnel countries.