Interpol identifies West Africa as potential new hotspot for cybercrime compounds

West Africa could be developing into a hub for scam centers, Interpol says, and other regions also are showing an uptick in such activity, mirroring a cybercrime trend that began in Southeast Asia.

In a brief report posted this week, the international police agency says new scam centers have been identified recently in the Middle East and Central America as well as West Africa, echoing a U.N. warning from April.

Interpol did not report specific data about the trend in West Africa, but recent reports have cited crackdowns in Nigeria and elsewhere.

The agency said it analyzed five years of data about the illicit industry, which relies on human trafficking to staff up centers with people who are forced to conduct investment fraud, romance scams and other schemes.

“As of March 2025, victims from 66 countries were trafficked into online scam centres, with no continent left untouched,” Interpol said, with about three-quarters of those victims ending up in Southeast Asian compounds.

In countries such as Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, scam centers are known for holding workers under nightmarish conditions. Law enforcement agencies say Chinese-speaking crime syndicates are often in charge.

“While not every person committing fraud in a scam centre is a victim of human trafficking, those held against their will are often subject to extortion through debt bondage, as well as beatings, sexual exploitation, torture and rape,” Interpol said.