Overview
- The London‑hosted operation produced roughly 28 arrests in Ghana and Nigeria, the seizure of hundreds of electronic devices, the identification of about 117 trafficking victims and the removal of some 3.7 million Facebook and Instagram accounts tied to fraud.
- The coordinated action took place during a four‑day Joint Disruption Week held Oct. 6–9 and brought together more than 100 officials from the UK NCA, the U.S. DOJ Scam Center Strike Force, the FBI and partner agencies.
- Private companies including Meta, Coinbase, Google and Microsoft supplied real‑time intelligence and blockchain tracing that helped identify about $11 million in potentially freezable funds and map how stolen money moved through crypto services.
- Investigations and legal work are continuing to turn identified assets into formal restraints and to build cross‑jurisdictional prosecutions, a process authorities say will require further tracing and coordination.
- Officials said the sweep shows scam compounds are shifting from Southeast Asia into West Africa and using hybrid tactics such as romance, investment/pig‑butchering and impersonation scams, which fuels both financial loss to victims and the trafficking of coerced workers.