Six Nigerians accused of romance scams face extradition to US: What you need to know

South African police are reportedly handing over six Nigerian nationals accused of running romance scams to FBI agents for extradition to the United States.

According to authorities, the group is alleged to have targeted over 100 women in the US and defrauded them of more than 100m.

The South Africa’s elite Hawks police unit asserted that the group would be relocated from a correctional facility in Cape Town to the airport where they would be transferred to officials from the FBI and the United States Secret Service.

In this connection, Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said in a statement: “ Some of their reported victims included pensioners and businesspeople "who were targeted through sophisticated online relationships used to defraud them of their money.”

The group has been under the eye of law enforcement agencies for a number of years. Notably, FBI operations against Black Axe were launched in November 2019 and September 2021 ultimately charging more than 35 individuals with multi-million-dollar internet fraud.

Furthermore, there have been various operations across multiple countries aimed at targeting Black Axe coordinated by Interpol to curb such activities.