Six Nigerian nationals accused of defrauding more than 100 women in the United States of more than R100 million through online romance scams are set to be extradited from South Africa to face charges in the US.

The extradition is being facilitated by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, commonly known as the Hawks, together with INTERPOL South Africa.

The six men are alleged to be members of the Black Axe organised criminal network and are wanted by US authorities on charges including wire fraud and money laundering.

According to the Hawks, the suspects allegedly targeted more than 100 women in the US, including pensioners and businesspeople, using sophisticated online relationships to gain their trust before defrauding them of their money.

The suspects were arrested in South Africa in 2021 following a major Hawks takedown operation.

They have remained in South Africa while extradition proceedings were dealt with.

On Friday, the six men will be transported from a correctional facility in Cape Town to Cape Town International Airport, where they are expected to be handed over to officials from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Secret Service.

The US law enforcement officials arrived in South Africa on Friday morning, with the formal handover expected later in the afternoon.

Colonel Katlego Mogale is facilitating media interviews and is expected to provide further details about the operation.

The case forms part of a broader international effort to dismantle West African organised crime networks involved in cyber-enabled financial crimes.

INTERPOL has identified groups including Black Axe as major players in transnational online financial fraud, including romance scams, investment fraud, advance-fee fraud and cryptocurrency-related crimes.

South Africa has previously worked with INTERPOL and US law enforcement agencies on several investigations involving Nigerian nationals and alleged online scams.

In 2022, INTERPOL and the Hawks arrested two foreign nationals in Pretoria who were allegedly linked to the Airlords, described by police as rivals of Black Axe. The suspects were linked to investigations into romance, investment, Bitcoin, employment and advance-fee scams and faced extradition-related proceedings.

In another major international investigation, INTERPOL reported that eight suspected Black Axe leaders were arrested in Cape Town and Johannesburg in 2021. The suspects were allegedly involved in fraud and money laundering, with charges in the US linked to more than €6.25 million allegedly stolen from romance scam victims.

INTERPOL’s latest Operation Jackal IV also highlighted the scale of the threat. The eight-month operation, which ran from November 2025 to June 2026, involved 23 countries and resulted in 58 arrests and the identification of 263 suspects.

South Africa accounted for 39 of those arrests.

INTERPOL said South African authorities raided seven locations in Johannesburg linked to a syndicate running romance and investment scams targeting retirees in English-speaking countries. The operation resulted in the seizure of US$2.67 million, the blocking of 257 bank accounts and the arrest of 39 people.

The US Department of Justice has also previously prosecuted Nigerian nationals linked to romance scams operating from South Africa.

In one case, a Nigerian national extradited from South Africa in 2024 pleaded guilty after allegedly participating in romance and other fraud schemes that targeted at least 15 individual and corporate victims in the US. Some elderly victims were allegedly persuaded to drain retirement savings and borrow money from relatives and friends.

South African authorities have also continued investigating romance scams domestically. In March 2026, three suspects appeared in a Western Cape court over an alleged R14 million romance fraud and money-laundering scheme targeting an elderly woman.

While these cases demonstrate the scale of losses associated with romance fraud, the documented amounts cannot responsibly be combined into a single estimate because they relate to different investigations, jurisdictions and stages of criminal proceedings.

The extradition of the six suspects underscores the role of cooperation between South African and international law enforcement agencies in pursuing organised crime networks whose operations cross national borders.