Ghana arrests nearly 50 Nigerians in online fraud crackdown, minister says

Ghanaian police and security authorities have arrested nearly 50 Nigerians in an operation against online scammers, Accra said on Wednesday.

A nighttime raid on the outskirts of the capital "resulted in the arrest of 48 suspected cybercrime operatives... believed to be Nigerian nationals," Information Minister Sam George said.

Those arrested in Ghana – 46 men and two women – are accused of conducting "romance scams, online investment fraud, impersonation schemes and illicit online gold trading," George said in a post on X.

Ghana has tightened gold trade regulations, including by restricting purchases by foreigners, this year as part of reforms trying to rein in informal mining that has ravaged the environment.

In the raid, police recovered 54 laptops, 39 mobile phones and a Starlink internet kit.