West African scammers targeted in joint international government-industry operation

A joint international law enforcement and industry operation called “Joint Disruption Week” focused on West Africa and targeted large-scale scam centers and online fraud networks, resulting in 28 arrests, rescue of 117 trafficking victims, seizure of hundreds of devices, identification of over $11 million in potentially freezable funds, and removal of more than 3.7 million social media accounts and pages; participating organizations included U.S. and international law enforcement agencies and major technology companies. The campaign disrupted impersonation scams, digital arrest extortion, pig-butchering and other online frauds that primarily targeted victims in the United States and United Kingdom.