Romance scams: South Africa to extradite six Nigerians to the United States

South Africa is due to extradite six Nigerian nationals to the United States on Friday, suspected of defrauding their victims of more than six million dollars in romance scams.

Called "love scam" in English, romance scams consist of making victims believe, via social networks, that a romantic relationship has been formed in order to encourage them to make transfers by making them believe in situations of financial distress.

Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, has for years been regularly cited for the practices of its cybercriminals, particularly those involved in "romance" scams. They are known in local slang as "Yahoo Boys".

The suspects are believed to be members of an organized criminal network called Black Axe and are wanted by US authorities on charges including wire fraud and money laundering, the South African elite police unit, the Hawks, said in a statement.

They were arrested in South Africa in 2021 following a large-scale operation, after targeting "more than 100 women in the United States, whom they allegedly defrauded of more than 100 million rand (the equivalent of approximately $6.2 million or €5.3 million) through online romance or dating scams," police said.

"Among the alleged victims are retirees and business owners who were reportedly targeted through sophisticated online relationships used to swindle them out of their money," said Hawks spokeswoman Colonel Katlego Mogale.

According to him, the suspects will be handed over on Friday to officials from the FBI and the Secret Service at Cape Town International Airport.

Online romance scams have become an increasing form of transnational cybercrime, with scammers using fake identities on dating sites and social networks to gain the trust of their victims before tricking them into sending money.