Authorities in Madagascar have linked online scam centres on the island to a criminal group that ran similar operations in Cambodia, AFP reported in a story carried by The Standard. About 20 people from Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe remain in custody. Officials said initial findings suggest some of them may be victims of human trafficking.
Police crime unit chief Hassan Mouigni told AFP that the Africans said they had been recruited on Facebook to work in Madagascar's commercial sector. He said the boss took most of their passports when they arrived, and they were forced to scam people. "They were victims of deception," Mouigni said.
Madagascar's justice ministry said 13 Chinese-run scam compounds were shut down in August and September. The raids were joint operations with the US Department of Justice. The sites ran romance, cryptocurrency and investment fraud. According to the ministry, 148 Chinese nationals have been extradited to China. The US authority said about $52 million in cryptocurrency was seized in a single day and more than 3,200 electronic devices were processed.
US authorities said a Malaysian national, Chui Kok Wa, is charged with running one romance scam scheme. He operated from a villa in the Ivato neighbourhood near Antananarivo. The DOJ said his group, which has links to Malaysia and China, likely moved its operations from Cambodia to Madagascar in early 2025 after a police crackdown there. Tsitohaina Ralihivao, cybercrime coordinator at Madagascar's communications ministry, said the same organisations simply relocated after Thai forces dismantled their compounds.
An FBI court document says three Brazilian workers were moved from a Cambodian compound to Antananarivo in early May 2026. The FBI said scam centres are increasingly opening in Africa as compounds in Southeast Asia close. Mouigni said the centres mainly targeted English-speaking countries, including the United States, Canada and Pakistan. Ralihivao said this explains why the networks needed recruits from English-speaking African countries.
The operations drew attention in the capital when the groups moved from discreet villas to renting entire hotels, Mouigni said. Separately, 11 Chinese nationals arrested in the crackdown walked free from a Madagascar jail in August. The scandal allegedly implicates the head of the prison service. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime had warned last year that these networks were spreading, particularly into Southern Africa.