FBI says Operation Blackout led to 28 arrests in Ghana and Nigeria, devices seized and trafficked workers freed
The FBI said its Operation Blackout resulted in 28 arrests across Ghana and Nigeria last week, the seizure of more than 350 electronic devices, the identification of at least $11 million in potentially freezable funds and the liberation of over 100 trafficked workers.
FBI Director Kash Patel told Fox News Digital on Oct. 13, 2026, that the numbers came from a series of initiatives tied to a “Joint Disruption Week” based out of London and described the effort as a global campaign to disrupt foreign scam compounds targeting Americans.
The FBI said the London-based coordination produced raids and seizures across West Africa. In Ghana, authorities identified 117 victims pending repatriation to Nigeria and arrested and detained 19 suspects; in Nigeria, nine people were arrested and are to be prosecuted under Nigerian law, the FBI said.
Meta said in a company news release that more than 3.7 million Facebook and Instagram accounts, pages and groups allegedly linked to fraudulent activity were taken down as part of the disruption. Chris Sonderby, Meta’s vice president and deputy general counsel, said the company shared leads on over 30 suspected scam centers that resulted in arrests, rescues of trafficking victims and cryptocurrency seizures.
The FBI told Fox News Digital that Operation Blackout overall has led to roughly $17 billion in assets seized, hundreds of alleged scammers arrested and thousands of trafficked workers freed. The bureau also said more than 10,000 Americans were warned about potential targeting, preventing an estimated $670 million in losses.
The Fox News report also noted that law enforcement and industry officials flagged a geographic shift of scam compounds into parts of Africa and increased use of artificial intelligence by scam networks. Jack Stubbs, lead scams investigator at OpenAI, was quoted in the report saying AI is being used to clone voices and produce convincing messages, and that AI tools can also help identify and disrupt scam operations when shared with partners.
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