Those arrested in Ghana – 46 men and two women – are accused of conducting romance scams, online investment fraud, impersonation schemes and illicit online gold trading. — Reuters
ACCRA: Ghanaian police and security authorities have arrested nearly 50 Nigerians in a sting operation against online scammers, Accra said Wednesday.
A nighttime raid on the outskirts of the capital "resulted in the arrest of 48 suspected cybercrime operatives... believed to be Nigerian nationals", Information Minister Sam George said.
Nigeria, home to a bustling fintech sector, also has a reputation for Internet fraudsters known in local slang as "Yahoo Boys".
At the same time, Nigeria itself has also become a target for foreign scammers, with a massive raid in Lagos last year leading to the arrest of 792 people, 148 of whom were Chinese nationals.
Those arrested in Ghana – 46 men and two women – are accused of conducting "romance scams, online investment fraud, impersonation schemes and illicit online gold trading," George said in a post on X.
Ghana has tightened gold trade regulations – including by restricting purchases by foreigners – this year as part of reforms trying to rein in informal mining that has ravaged the environment.
Within Ghana, online scams have become popular among young people who say they have few other economic prospects.
Earlier this year, AFP documented Accra's tech-savvy teens turning to phishing scams and setting up fake online stores to rack up thousands of cedis in just a few hours.
In the raid, police recovered 54 laptops, 39 mobile phones and a Starlink Internet kit. – AFP
