US citizens targeted by international online scam networks

New data show that nearly three‑quarters of American adults encounter an online scam each week, with the FBI reporting more than $16.6 billion in losses in 2024. Romance fraud alone accounted for over $1 billion, largely affecting older women. Investigations have traced a large share of these schemes to West African fraud groups in Nigeria and Ghana, whose operatives pose as white American men or military personnel to lure victims. INTERPOL’s Operation Red Card 2.0, conducted across 16 African nations, resulted in 650 arrests and the recovery of $4.3 million, while U.S. prosecutors have indicted Ghanaian nationals for similar romance‑fraud operations.

Separately, OpenAI disclosed a coordinated scam network that used its ChatGPT model to generate convincing messages, fake identities and fraudulent websites. Analysts linked the operation to Cambodia, near the city of Poipet, where AI‑generated content facilitated romance, investment, gambling and law‑enforcement impersonation scams. OpenAI disabled the involved accounts and shared threat intelligence with law‑enforcement agencies.