The Bank of Ghana(BoG) has announed that fraud incidents in the digital space has increased by 98% between 2022 and 2025.
The BoG noted that financial criminals increasingly exploit the rapid growth in digital transactions.
According to the BoG, the sharp increase reflects on fraudsters increasingly targeting digital platforms as more Ghanaians rely on electronic channels to make payments and transfer funds.
The Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Matilda Asante Asiedu noted that fraudsters are always thinking of new ways to defraud Ghanaians.
She disclosed that overall fraud incidents across the financial ecosystem increased from 16,733 in 2024 to 24,778 in 2025, representing a 48% increase.
Speaking at the opening of the 2026 Technical Committee Workshop of the Committee for Cooperation Between Law Enforcement Agencies and the Banking Community (OCLAB), Matilda Asante stated, “It is not just a shift in the statistics or the data, but it’s also a shift in the financial crime landscape itself. And that means that as entities that are responsible for combating that, we also have to have a shift in our strategy and in our mindset”.
“This is not just a challenge for a PSP…because think about it, a PSP’s account sits with a bank. And so if that fraud incident happens, it transcends one institution, and it affects the entire financial ecosystem,” she said.
“So, whether it’s a mobile money transaction or it’s a fintech transaction on a fintech platform, it’s all interwoven and intertwined,” she said.
Matilda Asante further disclosed that an intelligence-led operation against illegal online operators in parts of Accra in 2023, resulted in the arrest of 430 people including three foreign nationals.
She also disclosed that a bank employee has been convicted and sentenced to 10 years for embezzling GH¢1.2 million.
She further added, “Fraudsters are sometimes six times ahead of us. They’re always thinking of new ways,” she said.
“It should be measured by the outcomes of stronger intelligence sharing, successful investigations that lead to successful prosecutions, asset recovery, improved regulatory compliance, greater customer awareness, and a measurable reduction in financial crimes,” she said.
“We should be so efficient that when the fraudster begins to think through their next move, they’ll also think, ‘gosh, what if these people arrest me?’ So that is a deterrent to them,” she said.
In related fraud news, TrustGH, a scam verification and reporting platform, has identified more than 6,000 telephone numbers associated with suspected fraudulent activity through community reporting and open-source intelligence (OSINT) investigations conducted by its team of certified cybersecurity professionals.
The findings highlight the evolving digital fraud threat landscape in Ghana, with threat actors increasingly exploiting social media platforms, messaging applications, online business directories, telecommunications channels and fraudulent websites to target individuals and businesses.
TrustGH’s analysis shows that approximately 50 per cent of reported scam numbers are linked to TikTok, making it the largest identified source of reported scam activity within the platform’s database. SMS and WhatsApp also account for a significant proportion of reported cases, while other indicators have been traced to Facebook, Google Business Profiles, telephone calls and fake websites.
Social engineering driving digital fraud
TrustGH’s investigations indicate that many of the identified schemes rely heavily on social engineering techniques rather than sophisticated technical exploitation.
Threat actors often impersonate trusted individuals or organisations to establish credibility and manipulate victims into transferring funds or disclosing sensitive information.
Fraudsters may pose as bank officials, government representatives, company executives, police officers, financial agents, recruitment officers or legitimate business owners.
Once trust has been established, victims may be pressured to make payments, disclose onetime passwords (OTPs), provide Mobile Money credentials or reveal other sensitive information.
These tactics can lead to financial loss or account compromise without the attacker necessarily gaining direct technical access to the victim’s device.
Mobile Money remains the primary target
More than 90 per cent of reported scam cases analysed by TrustGH involved attempts to obtain Mobile Money payments or gain unauthorised access to victims’ Mobile Money accounts.
The platform has identified several recurring threat categories, including Mobile Money fraud, financial impersonation, fake online sellers, fraudulent Google Business Profiles, fake recruitment schemes, prize and lottery scams, social-media fraud, suspicious callers and phishing-related account takeover attempts.
In phishing and account-takeover schemes, threat actors attempt to harvest authentication credentials, OTPs, passwords or other information that could enable unauthorised access to victims’ accounts.
TrustGH considers the high proportion of Mobile Money-related incidents a significant cybersecurity concern given the widespread use of mobile financial services in Ghana.
Fake business profiles used as attack infrastructure
TrustGH has also identified a growing pattern involving the abuse of legitimate business identities.
Threat actors create fraudulent social-media accounts, advertisements and Google Business Profiles that closely imitate genuine companies.
These fraudulent profiles may reproduce legitimate business names, logos, locations and other publicly available information to create an appearance of authenticity.
TikTok a major source of reported scam indicators
The finding that approximately half of the reported numbers are associated with TikTok highlights the increasing role of social media in the fraud ecosystem.
Threat actors can use social platforms to establish fraudulent identities, advertise fake products or services and reach large numbers of potential victims.
Communication may subsequently move to WhatsApp, SMS or telephone calls, where social-engineering techniques are used to complete the fraud.
This creates a multi-channel attack chain in which several platforms may be used during different stages of the same scam.
Collaboration with cybersecurity and law-enforcement authorities
TrustGH is a licensed platform and works closely with the Cybersecurity Authority and the Cyber Crime Unit of the Ghana Police Service to combat scam activity and support investigations involving reported numbers.
Members of the public can verify and report suspicious numbers through TrustGH.com. Visit: TrustGH.com
@ghnow_ Where should we evaluate to? Resident quizzes Ghana Water company #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – GHnow
@ghnow_ The diplorable state of a bridge in Weija close to Weija Dam #GHnow #fyp ♬ original sound – DJSHANE God is the greatest 🙌
