Coinbase Joins US-UK Crackdown on West African Crypto Scam Networks
Coinbase partners with the UK NCA and US DOJ in London Joint Disruption Week, saving over $415K and targeting West African crypto scam networks.
What to Know:
- Coinbase partnered with global police agencies during the four-day London Joint Disruption Week (October 6–9, 2026) to dismantle West African crypto fraud syndicates.
- Participating agencies included the UK NCA, US DOJ Scam Centre Strike Force, FBI, Nigerian Joint Case Team on Cybercrimes, Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre, and Ghanaian Cyber Security Authority.
- The joint operation resulted in 28 arrests across Ghana and Nigeria, the identification of 117 trafficking victims, and the removal of over 3.7 million fraudulent accounts and pages.
- Coinbase directly prevented 65+ victims from losing over $415,000, while broader intelligence identified at least $11 million in freezable illicit assets.
During the four-day London Joint Disruption Week (October 6–9, 2026), Coinbase joined forces with international law enforcement agencies to strike a coordinated blow against transnational scam syndicates operating out of West Africa. Agencies such as the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), the US Department of Justice’s Scam Centre Strike Force, and the FBI participated.
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The Nigerian Joint Case Team on Cybercrimes, the Nigeria Police Force’s National Cybercrime Centre, and the Ghanaian Cyber Security Authority also took part in the enforcement action.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said on X that the company and law enforcement shared real-time intelligence and acted against the networks.
What Happened In London
More than 15 tech companies, including Binance, Chainalysis, Coinbase, Elliptic and TRM Labs, along with agencies from 10 countries, took part in what the DOJ says is the first coordinated operation targeting West African networks.
Coinbase’s Global Intelligence team spearheaded its involvement, working within the multi-industry Tech Against Scams Coalition. The exchange provided real-time blockchain analytics to map wallet addresses directly to fraudulent social profiles and domains.
Leah Bressack, Vice President at Coinbase, said: “as criminal networks try to reestablish in Africa, Coinbase’s Global Intelligence team is following the money, freezing assets, and sharing intelligence in real time.”
Coinbase says its goal is to “help protect people before they become victims, interrupt scams already underway, and support real consequences for the criminal organisations responsible.”
The company also says it will keep working with Tech Against Scams and law enforcement to crack down on fraudsters.
The Results
Coinbase directly helped identify over 65 active scam victims and prevented them from losing over $415,000. Meta removed more than 3.7 million accounts, pages and groups, and partners shared leads on more than 30 suspected scam centres.
The DOJ reports 28 arrests: 19 in Sasaabi, a suburb of Accra in Ghana, where 303 devices were seized, and nine in Nigeria, with 53 devices seized. In Ghana, 117 trafficking victims were identified and await repatriation to Nigeria.
In Ghana, the operation also led to the identification of 89 scam victims with an estimated $8.3 million in lost funds.
FBI director Kash Patel says the “brilliant partnership” led to the identification of “at least $11 million in potentially freezable funds, and truly saved lives.”
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division thanked Nigerian and Ghanaian law enforcement officers.
“I am especially grateful to the courageous law enforcement officers in Ghana and Nigeria who put themselves in harm’s way to seize evidence and arrest the criminals who prey on innocent people,” he said.
Why West Africa?
For years, the epicentre of industrial-scale crypto fraud was Southeast Asia. Syndicates typically operated from heavily fortified compounds in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos.
In a similar joint operation with the US DOJ, Coinbase helped freeze an estimated $3 million in crypto tied to a Southeast Asian fraud network, and between April 2026 and May 2026, Coinbase, OKX, Chainalysis and TRM Labs partnered with Singaporean officials to prevent 145 people from losing $4.2 million to scammers.
However, as international police pressure intensified across Asia, syndicate operators began shifting parts of their digital infrastructure to West Africa, concentrating operations in hubs across Ghana and Nigeria.
Syndicates are now relying on sophisticated schemes that include law enforcement impersonation, investment and pig-butchering scams, and extortion.
These scammers target not only victims overseas, but also domestic victims. Regulators such as the SEC repeatedly warn users against fake or unregistered crypto exchanges and investment platforms.
Why This Matters
Chainalysis reports that approximately $17 billion was stolen in crypto fraud and scams in 2025. In East and Southeast Asian crime networks, syndicates often had forced labour compounds.
In these compounds, trafficking victims are forced to operate scams. This pattern is similar to what was discovered during this operation in Ghana.
In 2025, scammers targeted Coinbase, impersonating its customer service agents to exploit the exchange’s users. One such scam cost victims nearly $16 million.
The scale of crypto fraud now means isolated compliance policies from individual exchanges are no longer enough. The London Joint Disruption Week offers a repeatable playbook for public-private collaboration.
For crypto users, this shift marks a move toward proactive protection. Rather than relying solely on post-incident reporting, major exchanges are now working to destroy criminal infrastructure before funds ever leave a victim’s account.
African crypto users can expect more cooperation between global platforms and African investigators.
