• The NPF-NCCC says it dismantled networks linked to more than $2M in fraud against victims abroad, according to BusinessDay.
  • Nine arrests across three operations in Delta and Lagos states; some outlets headlined eight.
  • Only the Canadian case, with two arrests, is explicitly romance fraud.
  • The FTC says $298M was reported lost to social media romance scams in 2025.

Nigeria's Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) says it has dismantled networks in investment fraud, romance scams and money laundering that investigators link to more than $2M in losses abroad, BusinessDay reported on 25 October. Blueprint reported that the centre's head, AIG Akaniyene Ezima, briefed journalists in Abuja on Friday 23 October.

Both outlets count nine arrests across three operations. Some outlets headlined eight, but the cases as described (four, two and three suspects) add up to nine. All are alleged offenders, and none had been arraigned.

The DII Take

Treat the $2M as an aggregate claim: BusinessDay's itemised figures are far smaller, and DII has not seen how police derived the total. The dating angle is indirect, since no dating app is named and only two arrests concern romance fraud. Even so, the case file runs through social platforms, impersonation and crypto wallets, which is the territory trust and safety teams police every day.

Three cases, nine arrests

In Delta State, four suspects were arrested in Agbor and Okpanam after UK National Crime Agency intelligence, according to BusinessDay. Police allege they used fabricated identities for investment fraud, sextortion and crypto fraud, and recovered 36 mobile devices and $15,900 in crypto assets.

The romance case, run with Canada's RCMP and Germany's BKA, led to two arrests in Delta State. Police allege the network targeted elderly Canadian residents between 2020 and 2024. Five victims are identified, and documented losses for two exceed CA$417,000.

In Lagos, three suspects were arrested in Lekki on 14 October. Police allege one used AI voice cloning and deepfakes to impersonate Elon Musk across Facebook, WhatsApp, Zangi, Telegram and X.

Why operators should watch the pattern

The US Federal Trade Commission says nearly 60% of people who reported losing money to a romance scam in 2025 said it began on a social media platform. Reported losses were higher for scams starting on Facebook than on any other social platform. DII recently covered a sentencing in a similar dating-site case.

Both outlets count nine arrests across three operations.

What to watch

Next come arraignments, which police say will follow investigative and prosecutorial processes. TheCable reported a similar NPF-NCCC announcement on 27 August, with seven arrests, so this looks like a continuing run of operations rather than a one-off.

  • Cross-border intelligence from the UK NCA, RCMP and BKA drove all three Nigerian operations, according to Blueprint, so platforms should expect more law-enforcement data requests.
  • Police say deepfake and voice-cloning impersonation was used in the Lagos case, adding a verification challenge for member-safety teams.
  • Ezima called on financial institutions and crypto providers to strengthen customer verification and transaction monitoring, Blueprint reported.

Sources: FTC Data Spotlight: Reported losses to scams on social media eight times higher than in 2020 (US Federal Trade Commission); Police bust cybercrime syndicates over $2m online investment, romance scams (BusinessDay); Police nab 9, recover $15,900 in cryptocurrency, others (Blueprint Newspapers); Police Bust Money Laundering Networks Involved in $2m fraud, Arrest 8 (Amebo Newspapers NG); Police arrest seven suspects over 'N3.6bn crypto, internet fraud' (TheCable)