Pensioner Graeme Stagg says that fraudsters destroyed his life by taking everything.

The US Justice Department on Monday announced the arrest of 74 individuals, including 42 in the United States, for their involvement in "business email compromise" (BEC) schemes designed to steal money and valuable information from both businesses and individuals. In addition to the 42 in the US, the arrests included 29 in Nigeria, as well as three in Canada, Mauritius and Poland. Federal authorities also seized nearly $2.4 million, and they disrupted and recovered approximately $14 million in fraudulent wire transfers. The arrests were the culmination of "Operation Wire Wire," a six-month campaign that involved the DOJ, the US Department of Homeland Security, the US Treasury and the US Postal Inspection Service. In a statement, US Secret Service Director Randolph "Tex" Alles said the "explosive expansion of the cyber domain has forced us to develop innovative ways of conducting these types of investigations."

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News of the scam emerged on RTL radio, which said scores of mails were sent under an address name -- mailto:cabinet@presidence.fr, strikingly similar to official ones -- requesting among other favors the best table at a plush five-star restaurant and tickets to the Australian Formula 1 grand prix.

More than £13m of pension savings were transferred, and the pair forwarded most of the money to the mastermind of the criminal enterprise, David Austin, from Guildford in Surrey. A previous case heard evidence that he used it to live a life of luxury including ski holidays and trips to Dubai.