The latest enforcement action comes under Operation Blackout, the FBI’s international drive to shut down scam compounds targeting Americans, with older adults among the most frequent victims.
Information provided by the FBI to News Outlet says investigators have identified 89 people allegedly defrauded and confiscated more than 300 electronic devices. More than 130 people were arrested or detained. Officials say some are believed to be trafficking victims and are expected to return to their home nations, mainly Nigeria.
Images supplied by the FBI show people seated at computers inside a suspected scam facility in Ghana during the operation. (FBI Obtained by News Outlet)
FBI Director Kash Patel said the Ghana raid demonstrates the bureau’s wider strategy of targeting international fraud organizations at the point where they operate.
“Operation Blackout is the FBI’s historic global campaign to dismantle scam compounds around the world that target American citizens, especially seniors,” Patel said.
“We are going after these operations at their source, seizing billions of dollars, rescuing thousands of trafficked workers and protecting tens of thousands of Americans whose life savings are at risk. Anyone who steals from Americans should not expect a safe haven. This FBI will find them and hold them accountable.”
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More than 300 electronic devices, including laptops photographed in Ghana, were reportedly seized during the FBI’s Operation Blackout investigation. (FBI Obtained by News Outlet)
The Ghana case follows Patel’s earlier warning that international scam operations were spreading from established centers in Southeast Asia and the Middle East into African countries.
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“That’s why you’re seeing these scam compounds move into central and sub-Saharan Africa, where we are already positioned to dismantle them,” Patel told News Outlet in September.
That month, U.S. investigators also assisted authorities in Madagascar with the closure of 13 scam sites allegedly connected to Chinese organized crime groups. Earlier reporting by News Outlet said more than 3,200 electronic devices were processed in that operation.
FBI CONFISCATES RECORD $8 BILLION IN CRYPTOCURRENCY DURING GLOBAL SCAM-COMPOUND OPERATION
FBI personnel and other participants stand outside a building in an image released in connection with the Ghana scam-center investigation. (FBI Obtained by News Outlet)
The FBI says Operation Blackout has resulted in the seizure of approximately $17 billion worldwide, hundreds of arrests and the liberation of thousands of people allegedly forced to work in scam compounds. The agency has not released a detailed accounting of the assets taken.
The bureau also says it has alerted more than 10,000 Americans to suspected fraud schemes, helping prevent an estimated $670 million in losses.
The FBI previously said that 77% of more than 10,400 potential victims reached through its Operation Level Up prevention program were unaware they were being targeted by scammers.
Dozens of smartphones appear in photographs from the FBI’s Operation Blackout action against suspected scam centers in Ghana. Investigators say more than 300 electronic devices were seized. (FBI Obtained by News Outlet)
The investigation in Ghana is continuing, and the FBI expects the number of confirmed victims and the total financial damage to increase.
