At least 35 Nigerians have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges involving scamming older individuals for money.
The suspects allegedly used romance scams, investment fraud, and business email compromises to scam and defraud the elderly.
They managed to scam at least $17 million.
The suspects which include male and females, age range between 23 to 53 years old.
The victims were in the northern and eastern district of Texas.
Eleven of the suspects used fake identities to make accounts on dating apps such as Match.com, ChistianMingle, JSwipe, and PlentyofFish.
They then gained the trust of their victims and lied about needing money.
Victims would send thousands of dollars at a time.
Officials arrested 11 people last Wednesday during a large operation sting.
Those suspects were charged with multiple financial crimes, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments.
An additional 23 Nigerians were arrested and indicted in the Eastern District on similar charges.
It is believed that the suspects have alleged ties to a transnational organized crime syndicate in Nigeria.
