They commonly use an image of a beautiful young woman or a handsome man and slowly seduce the victim, persuading them into thinking they are in a romantic relationship before tricking them into handing over money.

The FBI has been targeting international operations, many of which run romance scams against Americans. In its latest round of arrests, the agency arrested 28 suspects at scam centers in Ghana and Nigeria - with help from tech firms including Meta - owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

FBI Director Kash Patel said its agency-led Operation Blackout has led to the arrest of hundreds of alleged scammers, the seizure of $17 billion, and warnings being given to more than 10,000 Americans who were in danger of being swindled out of money.

LinkedIn Message Led to $850,000 Scam

Anola Johnson said she was first contacted by a "very attractive" man on LinkedIn in March 2023, who wooed her online for several weeks.

Johnson, a 69-year-old divorcee in Utah with two adult children, said she quickly became "infatuated" with the man but just before they were due to meet, he told her he had to travel to Abu Dhabi for work.

While he was there, he persuaded her to invest $50,000 in cryptocurrency.

Nine months into the relationship, she discovered he was a scammer who had tricked her with video calls, which she later realized were faked using artificial intelligence (AI).

"I just remember, I was sitting in this chair, and the room just started spinning, and I realized that everything I had, I had just sent to a scammer," Johnson told The Epoch Times.

She lost a total of $850,000. And she is not alone.

On Sept. 11, six Nigerian nationals - allegedly members of the Black Axe network - were extradited from South Africa to the United States to face trial over $6 million worth of alleged romance fraud, which targeted 100 Americans.

Erin West, a former Santa Clara County prosecutor and founder of anti-fraud nonprofit Operation Shamrock, told The Epoch Times that while Black Axe and other scammers in West Africa did significant damage, the money stolen was "pennies" compared with the romance frauds operating out of industrial-scale scam centers in Southeast Asia.

"This is the most lucrative business that's ever been constructed," West said. "You've got people you're not paying to do the work, and you're forcing them to do it, and then you are stealing billions upon billions upon billions of dollars from the rest of the world."