Eight foreign nationals have been arrested in an early morning raid in Cape Town for their links to an alleged R100 million online dating internet scam.

The group was arrested in a joint operation led by the FBI, the United States Secret Service, Interpol and with assistance from the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation unit.

Cape Town’s Metro Police also assisted in the raids.

The suspects in this investigation are alleged to have ties to a transnational organised crime syndicate originating in Nigeria.

It is alleged that the suspects preyed on victims on dating sites and social media, and who were then led to believe that they were in romantic relationships but were scammed out of their money.

The eight suspects, aged 33 to 52, will appear in court tomorrow.