A crackdown on cybercrime coordinated by Interpol has led to the arrests across 14 African countries of 260 people suspected in online romance and extortion scams, the organization announced Friday.
The operation took place in July and August 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, the international police organization 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
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