S/Africa extradites six Nigerians wanted in US romance scam

South Africa will extradite six Nigerian nationals to the United States Friday over allegations they swindled victims out of more than $6 million in a sophisticated online romance scam, police said.

The men are alleged to be members an organised criminal network called Black Axe and are wanted by US authorities on charges including wire fraud and money laundering, South Africa’s elite police unit Hawks said in a statement.

They were arrested in South Africa in 2021 following a major crackdown after allegedly targeting “more than 100 women in the United States, allegedly defrauding them of more than R100 million ($6.2 million) through online romance or love scams”, the Hawks said.

“Among the alleged victims were pensioners and businesspeople who were reportedly targeted through sophisticated online relationships used to defraud them of their money,” Hawks spokeswoman Colonel Katlego Mogale said.

Mogale said the suspects would be handed over to officials from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US State Secret Service at the Cape Town International Airport on Friday.

Online romance scams have become a growing form of transnational cybercrime, with fraudsters using fake identities on dating websites and social media to gain victims’ trust before tricking them into sending money.

In 2022, an Instagram influencer from Nigeria Ramon Abbas was jailed for more than 11 years in the US for his role in an international fraud syndicate.