Meta has removed more than 3.7 million accounts, pages and groups from Facebook and Instagram in a coordinated crackdown on scam networks operating in West Africa.
The operation, announced by Meta on Tuesday, involved 14 other technology companies and law enforcement agencies from 10 countries. It was coordinated by the United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA), in partnership with the United States Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies.
The operation also led to the identification of more than 30 suspected scam centres, the confirmation of 28 arrests and the rescue of 117 people allegedly trafficked and forced to work in scam compounds in Ghana.
According to Meta, the rescued victims were held against their will in a residential compound, where they suffered malnutrition as well as physical and psychological abuse.
The company said most of the accounts, pages and groups it removed appeared to target people in the United States and the United Kingdom, with scammers using profiles that impersonated American and British users.
Microsoft also suspended accounts suspected of involvement in the fraudulent activities.
Meanwhile, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase identified more than 65 active scam victims and prevented potential financial losses exceeding $415,000.
Other technology companies involved in the operation included Google, OpenAI, Starlink and Adobe, while participating law enforcement agencies came from Nigeria, Ghana, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and India.
Meta said the collaboration enabled participants to share intelligence across digital platforms, national borders and financial systems to identify criminal networks and disrupt their activities.
The targeted schemes included cryptocurrency investment fraud, fake job offers, romance scams, impersonation of law enforcement officers and military personnel, and fraudulent online sales.
The operation also targeted scam recovery schemes, in which fraudsters exploit previous victims by promising to recover stolen money in exchange for upfront payments.
Meta’s Vice-President and Deputy General Counsel, Chris Sonderby, said the operation demonstrated the importance of cooperation between technology companies and law enforcement agencies.
He said Meta would continue working with its partners to pursue scammers and disrupt their operations wherever they operate.
Similarly, the NCA’s Deputy Director of Fraud, Nick Sharp, said the collaboration had helped authorities target criminals responsible for fraud affecting thousands of victims.
He added that the agency would continue working with international and private-sector partners to combat cross-border fraud networks.
The operation comes amid growing concerns about organised online fraud, with criminal networks using scam centres to recruit workers, train them in deceptive practices and coordinate fraudulent campaigns targeting victims worldwide.
Meta said sustained cooperation between technology companies and law enforcement agencies was essential to ensuring that criminal organisations faced meaningful consequences and that similar operations could be repeated.