Top Highlights
- Operation Blackout united international law enforcement and tech companies to disrupt West African scam networks.
- The operation led to dozens of arrests, trafficking-victim rescues, and removal of over 3.7 million fake accounts.
- Shared scam reports and threat data helped map criminal infrastructure and identify key targets.
- The takeaway: collaborate faster and more often as scammers scale up with increasingly sophisticated tactics.
Behind the Scenes of How Operation Blackout Went Down
Shared intelligence helped map the scam networks
Operation Blackout brought law enforcement and technology companies together to disrupt scam networks operating out of West Africa. The effort targeted “pig-butchering,” romance, and cryptocurrency scams that trick people into sending money.
The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency hosted a week of joint work in London in early October. U.S. agencies, Nigerian and Ghanaian authorities, and companies including Meta, Microsoft, OpenAI, and Silent Push took part.
Investigators started with scam reports sent to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center and the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre. They then combined those reports with details about the websites and online systems scammers used. Meta and other companies shared information that helped investigators narrow down locations and connect activity across services.
Silent Push supplied 35,000 web domains and more than 70 rules to flag suspicious activity. Those clues helped authorities see patterns and identify where to focus their efforts. The U.S. Department of Justice said the operation led to dozens of arrests, rescued trafficking victims, and the removal of more than 3.7 million fake social media accounts.
Cooperation worked, but speed remains a challenge
Michael Sweeney, Silent Push’s director of preemptive cyberdefense, said a clear goal helped participants share information. Agreements also addressed legal barriers that can slow data exchange. In practice, the operation showed how companies can contribute information while law enforcement leads investigations and enforcement.
The effort marks the first coordinated campaign focused specifically on West Africa, according to the Justice Department. That model could help other countries tackle scams that cross borders. However, it depends on organizations sharing useful information quickly and consistently.
Sweeney says he wants partners to conduct more operations at a faster pace. Scammers adapt quickly, and some now use artificial intelligence to improve deceptive messages. For people who lose money—or feel too embarrassed to report a scam—faster cooperation could make a real difference. Sweeney stresses that victims are not alone, and that reporting scams can help investigators spot wider patterns.
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