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

A crackdown on cybercrime coordinated by Interpol has led to the arrests of 260 people suspected of links to online romance and extortion scams, the international policing organisation said on Friday.

The operation took place in July and August across 14 countries in Africa and focused on scams in which perpetrators build online romantic relationships to extract money from targets or blackmail them with explicit images, Interpol said.

Altogether the scams targeted more than 1,400 victims who lost nearly $2.8 million (€2.4 million), the organisation said.

"Cybercrime units across Africa are reporting a sharp rise in digital-enabled crimes such as sextortion and romance scams," Cyril Gout, acting executive director of police services at Interpol, said in the statement.

"The growth of online platforms has opened new opportunities for criminal networks to exploit victims, causing both financial loss and psychological harm," he added.

Interpol says Ghanaian authorities arrested 68 suspects in romance and sextortion scams. They are accused of using fake identities to trick victims into paying fake shipment fees and secretly recording explicit videos for blackmail.

In Senegal, police arrested 22 suspects who allegedly posed as celebrities on social media and dating platforms to scam over 100 people out of around $34,000 (€29,135), Interpol said.

The organisation also said authorities in Côte d'Ivoire arrested 24 suspects accused of using fake profiles to obtain and blackmail victims with intimate images.

Interpol, which has 196 member countries, is the world’s largest international police network to combat international crime.

Headquartered in Lyon, it works to help national police forces communicate with each other and track suspects and criminals in areas such as counterterrorism, financial crime, child pornography, cybercrime and organised crime.

In recent years, it has grappled with new challenges, including a growing caseload of cybercrime and child sex abuse, and increasing divisions among its member countries.