South Africa has extradited six Nigerian men to the United States over an alleged romance scam that defrauded more than 100 victims of over $6 million.
The suspects, arrested in South Africa in 2021 during a crackdown on the Black Axe criminal network, were handed over to the FBI and US Secret Service at Cape Town International Airport on Friday.
According to South Africa’s elite police unit, the Hawks, the men are wanted in the US on charges including wire fraud and money laundering. Investigators allege the group targeted more than 100 women in the US through online romance scams, defrauding them of over R100 million, estimated at $6.2 million.
Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said some of the victims were pensioners and businesspeople who were lured into fake online relationships before being manipulated into sending money.
“Among the alleged victims were pensioners and businesspeople who were reportedly targeted through sophisticated online relationships used to defraud them of their money,” Mogale said.
The suspects will face trial in the US, where authorities say the extradition forms part of ongoing efforts to prosecute members of transnational fraud networks operating romance scam schemes on dating platforms and social media.
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