In May 2014, twenty individuals were arrested on online fraud charges as a result of a joint operation between US and South African authorities. Eleven defendants were arrested in Pretoria, South Africa and the remaining in the US and Canada. Twelve of them were Nigerians, seven Americans and one South African.
The transnational investigation preceding the arrests culminated in an indictment for 8 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud, access device fraud, mail fraud, aggravated identity theft, theft of government funds and money laundering issued by the US District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi Southern Division.
The investigation started in October 2011. US law enforcement agents were contacted by a woman residing in Mississippi, who had been the victim of a scam. She had received a package in the mail requesting to reship it to Pretoria, South Africa. Law enforcement realized that this case was part of a complex scheme with hundreds of victims. According to the investigators, a West African transnational criminal group orchestrated several online schemes, including romance scams, reshipping scams, check scams, work-at-home scams and credit card data stealing.
United States of America
South Africa
CanadaSeveral investigative measures were adopted to identify the offenders, including searches and seizure of computers, laptops, mobile phones and documents.
The defendants arrested outside of U. territory will be facing extradition proceedings.
Transnational cybercrime significantly threatens financial security of individuals all around the world. Domestic investigations prove to be insufficient in most cases. International cooperation is crucial to fight such cyber threats. This case proves how international cooperation is fundamental not only to identify and arrest the offenders, but also to ensure effective prosecutions by means of extradition.