Raids against online scam centres in Madagascar have exposed ties with a criminal group that ran similar operations in Cambodia, also duping African nationals via alleged human trafficking, authorities said.
Conducting romance, cryptocurrency and investment fraud, the sites were mostly operated by Chinese nationals, 148 of whom have been extradited to China, Madagascar’s justice ministry said.
Thirteen Chinese-run scam compounds were taken down in operations in August and September conducted with the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
About US$52mil (RM211mil) of cryptocurrency was seized in a single day and more than 3,200 electronic devices were processed, the US authority said.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime had warned last year about the expansion of these networks, particularly into southern Africa.
Eleven Chinese nationals arrested separately in the online scam crackdown mysteriously walked free from a Madagascar jail in August in a widely publicised scandal allegedly implicating the head of the prison service.
Several African nationals remained in custody, even though initial findings suggested they may have been victims of human trafficking, officials said.
As in scam operations in South-East Asia, the Madagascar centres allegedly lured Africans to the Indian Ocean island via social media and with promises of salaries.
“According to their statements, they were recruited via Facebook to come work in Madagascar in the commercial sector,” said police crime unit chief Hassan Mouigni.
“But when they arrived here, most of the passports were confiscated by the boss and they were forced to scam,” he said. “They were victims of deception.”
The coordinator of the cybercrime unit at Madagascar’s communications ministry, Tsitohaina Ralihivao, drew a connection with a 2025 crackdown on scam compounds in Cambodia near the border with Thailand, when their militaries also clashed.
“When the Thais dismantled them, they just relocated the operations. The same organisations came to Madagascar,” Ralihivao said.
An FBI court document drew a similar conclusion after questioning three Brazilian nationals who worked at a scam compound in Antananarivo.
“Cyber scam centres are increasingly opening in Africa following the closure of such compounds in South-East Asia,” the FBI said. — AFP
