South African police are handing over six Nigerians wanted in the US for alleged online romance scams to FBI agents later on Friday. The group is accused of targeting over 100 women in the US and defrauding them of more than 100m rand ($6m; £5m), the South African authorities said. Those being extradited were arrested in 2021 and are believed to be members of crime syndicate Black Axe – a Nigerian mafia-style gang tied to human trafficking, internet fraud and murder. Some of their reported victims included pensioners and businesspeople “who were targeted through sophisticated online relationships used to defraud them of their money”, according to South Africa’s elite Hawks police unit.
The group will be “transported from a correctional facility in Cape Town” to the airport on Friday morning, where they will be “handed over to officials from the FBI and the United States Secret Service”, Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said in a statement. They would face wire fraud and money-laundering charges upon their arrival in the US, she added. Mass arrests in global crackdown on West African cyber-crime networks Black Axe is a shadowy criminal network known for its extreme violence and operates across Africa, Europe and North America. A BBC Eye investigation in 2021 suggested that the syndicate had become one of the most far-reaching and dangerous organised crime groups in the world.
Nigeria is its main recruitment ground and many of its members are university educated and inducted during their schooling. The group has been on the radar of law enforcement agencies for a number of years. FBI operations against Black Axe were launched in November 2019 and September 2021, eventually charging more than 35 individuals with multi-million dollar internet fraud. Since then there have been several other operations across multiple countries targeting Black Axe co-ordinated by the global policing agency Interpol.
Last month, Interpol said during its latest one – which took place between November 2025 and June 2026 – seven sites in South Africa linked to a syndicate involved in romance and investment scams were raided. It led to the arrests of 39 people, the seizure of money and the blocking of more than 250 bank accounts. The ultra-violent cult that became a global mafia The fake sex chats fuelled by an elaborate scam Dead in 6 hours: How Nigerian sextortion scammers targeted my son Mass arrests for sextortion and romance scams in sting operation across Africa Go to BBCAfrica.com, external for more news from the African continent. frica, external or on Instagram at bbcafrica, external
