Japan's National Police Agency says it has identified 11 Nigerians who are suspected to have swindled money from Japanese people in romance and other scams.

Agency officials say they traced money swindled in romance and investment scams carried out from 2022 to 2023 targeting people in Japan. The officials say they have been conducting a joint investigation of the group with Nigerian authorities.

Members of the Nigeria-based group allegedly sent direct messages on social media, using false identities such as a doctor and an astronaut. They are alleged to have defrauded 14 Japanese people of a total of 150 million yen, or roughly 990,000 dollars, under the guise of marriage expenses and investment.

The agency officials also say they have identified nine Japanese nationals who are suspected to have converted the swindled cash into crypto assets and received compensation from the Nigeria-based group.

Losses from investment and romance scams using social media totaled 126.8 billion yen or about 8.3 billion dollars in 2024 in Japan.

The agency suspects that groups based in West African countries, including Nigeria, fund themselves by repeatedly committing such scams.