Interpol has arrested 58 people and identified 263 suspects in a global crackdown on West African organized crime networks behind romance scams, cryptocurrency fraud, and business email compromise schemes, an operation the agency says also uncovered a disturbing rise in sextortion targeting minors.
The Scope of the Operation
Operation Jackal IV ran from November 2025 through June 2026 across 22 countries on six continents, targeting groups including Nigeria’s Black Axe and similar West African syndicates that Interpol says are responsible for a significant share of the world’s cyber-enabled financial fraud. The operation focused on romance scams, investment and cryptocurrency fraud, business email compromise, and money laundering.
Where the Arrests Happened
South African police arrested 39 people and seized $2.67 million after raiding seven locations in Johannesburg linked to a syndicate accused of running romance and investment scams targeting retirees in English-speaking countries, with 257 bank accounts blocked as part of that action. In Argentina, 17 people were arrested and 196 more identified in connection with a suspected “crime-as-a-service” network that allegedly supplied website domains and money-laundering support to West African crime groups.
A Troubling New Pattern
Investigators said the operation surfaced an escalating use of sextortion against minors by these networks, with some victims as young as 14, a shift that has pushed law enforcement agencies to treat the groups as more than financial-fraud operations.
Why It Matters
Romance and investment scams tied to West African crime networks have cost victims across North America, Europe, and Asia billions of dollars in recent years, frequently targeting isolated or elderly victims through long-running relationships built entirely online. Interpol’s coordinated, multi-continent approach reflects how thoroughly these networks operate across borders, making single-country prosecutions largely ineffective on their own.
