Tech firms and police coordinate action against West African scam networks

Meta said on 13 October that it and 14 other technology companies joined law enforcement from ten countries in an operation targeting scam networks in West Africa. The effort was hosted by the UK’s National Crime Agency in London and involved companies including Coinbase, Google and Microsoft.

Meta reported removing more than 3.7 million Facebook and Instagram accounts, pages and groups. Separately, the operation shared leads on over 30 scam centres; law enforcement confirmed 28 arrests and the rescue of 117 people trafficked into scam operations. Platform removals and arrests are different outcomes, and the figures cannot be treated as a count of convicted offenders. The operation combined account-level intelligence with investigations into the physical centres behind the scams.