Online scams constitute largest number of scams in Ghana – EOCO boss

The Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), COP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah, has disclosed that online scams constitute the highest number of reported scams in the country.

According to her, common among them are recruitment scams, investment scams, shopping scams, credit card frauds, and mobile money scams among others.

The Executive Director made this disclosure at the research and innovation week celebration of the Institute of Research, Innovation, and Development (IRID) of the Kumasi Technical University (KsTU) in the Ashanti Region.

The celebration was on the theme: “Building a sustainable cyber crime-free society for economic development”.

Maame Tiwaa said digital extortion known as online blackmail or sextortion is also identified as the most prominent cyber threat.

Business e-mail compromise, she said, has also become a significant concern and threat with huge sums of money lost, affecting the financial standing of the entities.

She explained that Ghana’s internet penetration is 69. 2 per cent adding that some 6.6 million Ghanaians representing 19.5 per cent are active on social media.

She noted the move towards a digital society has created new accounts for criminals.

In suggesting ways to deal with cybercrime, COP Maame Tiwaa urged the public to be vigilant and not be susceptible to things seen on the internet.

For his part, the Head of the Kumasi Technical University’s Institute of Research, Innovation, and Development (IRID), Dr Smart Sarpong explained the programme is aimed at sensitizing the public not to be quick to communicate with people they are not sure of on the internet.