Meta has removed more than 3.7 million accounts, pages and groups from Facebook and Instagram in a coordinated crackdown on online scam networks operating in West Africa, as an international operation led to 28 arrests and the rescue of 117 people trafficked and forced to work in scam compounds.
The operation, announced on October 13, 2026, brought together law enforcement agencies from 10 countries and 15 technology companies to disrupt criminal networks operating in Nigeria, Ghana and other parts of the region.
According to Meta, most of the removed accounts, pages and groups appeared to target victims in the United States and the United Kingdom through profiles impersonating American and British users.
The operation, hosted by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) in London from October 6 to 9, was described by Meta as the first coordinated effort to broadly target scam networks across West Africa.
The crackdown also identified more than $11 million in funds that could potentially be frozen, while cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase prevented potential losses exceeding $415,000.
The United States Department of Justice said the operation involved intelligence-sharing across digital platforms, financial systems and national borders to identify suspected scam centres and the people behind them.
In Ghana, authorities arrested 19 people in Sasaabi, near Accra, and seized 303 electronic devices. Nigeria was also involved in the operation, with nine arrests reported among the 28 suspects apprehended across the two countries.
The operation identified 117 people who had been trafficked to Ghana and forced to work in scam compounds. According to Meta, the victims were held against their will in a residential compound, where they suffered malnutrition and physical and psychological abuse.
The case highlights the human trafficking dimension of online fraud, with criminal networks allegedly exploiting vulnerable people to conduct scams against victims in other countries.
The fraud schemes targeted during the operation included cryptocurrency investment scams, fake job and online task offers, romance scams, fraudulent online sales, and impersonation of law enforcement officers and military personnel. Some networks also targeted people who had previously lost money to fraud by promising to recover their funds in exchange for upfront payments.
Other participating technology companies included Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Adobe, Starlink and several blockchain investigation firms. Microsoft also suspended accounts suspected of being linked to the fraudulent activities.
Meta said the participating organisations shared intelligence to identify more than 30 suspected scam centres and disrupt the digital infrastructure used to recruit victims, establish contact with targets and move money.
The NCA said cooperation between technology companies and international law enforcement was essential because fraudsters could operate in one country while targeting victims thousands of kilometres away.
The operation forms part of wider efforts to disrupt criminal networks at their source rather than relying solely on removing fraudulent accounts after scams have occurred.
However, the removal of millions of accounts does not, by itself, establish how much money victims ultimately recovered or whether the networks have been permanently dismantled.
