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FIRST ON FOX: The FBI’s global crackdown on overseas scam centers targeting Americans has led to more than 130 arrests or detentions in Ghana, with investigators identifying nearly $10 million in financial losses, Fox News Digital has learned.
The latest takedown is part of Operation Blackout, the FBI’s international campaign to dismantle scam compounds that prey on Americans, particularly seniors.
According to information provided to Fox News Digital by the FBI, investigators have identified 89 fraud victims and seized more than 300 devices. The more than 130 individuals arrested or detained include suspected trafficking victims expected to be repatriated to their home countries, primarily Nigeria.
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People sit at computers inside a suspected scam center during an operation in Ghana, according to images provided by the FBI. (FBI Obtained by Fox News Digital)
FBI Director Kash Patel said the operation reflects the bureau’s broader effort to dismantle international fraud networks at their source.
“The FBI’s ‘Operation Blackout’ is our historic, global scam center fraud demolition operation that takes apart scam compounds all over the world targeting American citizens – primarily seniors,” Patel said.
“We are attacking this problem right at the source and blowing these compounds up, seizing billions of dollars, freeing thousands of trafficked workers, and protecting tens of thousands of Americans at risk of looking their hard-earned savings through these scams. Those who steal from Americans no longer have sanctuary – this FBI will find them and bring them to justice.”
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Laptops photographed in connection with the FBI’s Operation Blackout crackdown in Ghana, where investigators reported seizing more than 300 electronic devices. (FBI Obtained by Fox News Digital)
The Ghana operation follows an earlier warning from Patel that international scam networks were expanding beyond Southeast Asia and the Middle East into Africa.
“That’s why you’re seeing the migration of these scam compounds to central and sub-Saharan Africa, which is where we are already pre-positioned to take them off,” Patel told Fox News Digital in September.
That same month, U.S. investigators helped authorities in Madagascar dismantle 13 scam centers linked to Chinese organized crime syndicates, processing more than 3,200 electronic devices, according to previous Fox News Digital reporting.
FBI SEIZES RECORD-SETTING $8 BILLION IN CRYPTOCURRENCY AMID INTERCONTINENTAL ‘SCAM COMPOUND’ CRACKDOWN
FBI personnel and other individuals pose outside a building in a photograph provided in connection with the Ghana scam center operation. (FBI Obtained by Fox News Digital)
The FBI says Operation Blackout has seized roughly $17 billion globally, led to hundreds of arrests and freed thousands of trafficked workers. The bureau has not provided a detailed breakdown of the seized assets.
The bureau also says it has warned more than 10,000 Americans about suspected scams, preventing an estimated $670 million in financial losses.
The FBI previously reported that 77% of the more than 10,400 potential victims contacted through its Operation Level Up prevention initiative did not realize they were being scammed.
Dozens of smartphones are pictured during the FBI’s Operation Blackout crackdown on suspected scam centers in Ghana. The bureau says investigators seized more than 300 electronic devices. (FBI Obtained by Fox News Digital)
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The Ghana investigation remains ongoing, and the FBI expects the number of identified victims and financial losses to grow.