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10/19/2026

Binance, Coinbase Join $11 Million West Africa Scam Sweep

What happened: Binance and Coinbase partnered with the UK National Crime Agency, Chainalysis, Elliptic, TRM Labs, and Meta in a coordinated crackdown on West African scam centers.

Binance, Coinbase Join $11 Million West Africa Scam Sweep

What happened: Binance and Coinbase partnered with the UK National Crime Agency, Chainalysis, Elliptic, TRM Labs, and Meta in a coordinated crackdown on West African scam centers. The operation led to 28 arrests (19 in Ghana, 9 in Nigeria), the seizure of 303 electronic devices, and the identification of 117 human trafficking victims. Private-sector partners flagged $11 million in potentially freezable funds, while Meta removed 3.7 million fraudulent accounts and content items.

Why it matters: This marks the first major joint law enforcement and private-sector operation targeting crypto-enabled scams in West Africa. While the $11 million flagged is not yet recovered, the sweep highlights increasing collaboration between exchanges, analytics firms, and social media platforms. Coinbase alone prevented $415,000 in victim losses, but the full scale of criminal proceeds remains uncertain.

Source: CoinDesk