The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says it has dismantled a scam operation in Ghana as part of a global crackdown on transnational fraud networks targeting American citizens.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the operation in Ghana had so far uncovered nearly US$10 million in reported losses involving 89 victims, underscoring the scale of the fraud being investigated.
Patel disclosed the development on Thursday, October 8, as he announced further progress under the FBI’s international campaign against scam compounds.
According to the FBI Director, more than 130 people have been arrested or detained, while investigators have seized more than 300 electronic devices in connection with the global operation.
“These scam compounds target American citizens and destroy lives—and this FBI is crushing them in every corner of the world. More to come,” Patel said in a post on X.
He said the investigation was still ongoing.
Patel also disclosed that some of the people detained in Ghana are believed to be victims of trafficking rather than perpetrators. Those individuals are expected to be repatriated to their respective home countries.
However, the FBI has not disclosed the identities of the persons arrested or detained in Ghana, the specific locations of the alleged scam operations or the Ghanaian institutions involved in the operation.
It also remains unclear whether any of those arrested will be prosecuted under Ghanaian law or face extradition proceedings in the United States.
The Ghana operation is part of Operation Blackout, an FBI-led global campaign targeting scam compounds involved in large-scale fraud against Americans.
The operation forms part of broader US efforts to disrupt criminal networks that operate scam compounds and, in some cases, lure or traffic workers into forced participation in online fraud.
Patel has previously said the campaign has resulted in about US$17 billion in fraud-related assets being seized, alongside hundreds of arrests and the rescue of thousands of trafficked workers.
The FBI has also been working to identify and warn potential victims before they lose money to the increasingly sophisticated fraud networks.
The latest operation places Ghana among countries where international authorities are intensifying efforts to dismantle organised cyber-fraud networks and identify victims who may have been coerced into participating in criminal activities.
