Fraud cases in Ghana’s financial sector increased sharply in 2025, with mobile money emerging as the main source of the rise, according to the Bank of Ghana.
Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show, the Head of the Bank of Ghana’s Fraud Investigations and Reporting Unit, Eric Cab-Beyuo, said commercial banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions (SDIs) recorded fewer fraud cases and lower fraud values during the year.
Get more exclusive breaking news updates on our WhatsApp channel .
“As we see in the reports, we have seen some progress on the bank side. We’ve seen some reduction or some decline in the number of fraud cases, as well as the value of fraud,” he said.
He added that fraud cases had also declined among SDIs.
“The only challenge we have is the payment service providers. That is where we see an increase in count and then value,” he said.
Cab-Beyuo attributed the improvement in the banking sector to stronger internal controls and effective regulatory oversight by the central bank.
“From the analysis, I must say the banks are doing a lot. They are putting a lot of controls, and we are happy with what we are seeing,” he said.
He noted that one major incident significantly increased the value-at-risk recorded by banks, adding that without it, the sector would have recorded a much bigger decline.
Asked to explain what falls under payment service providers, Cab-Beyuo identified MTN Mobile Money, AirtelTigo Money and Telecel Cash.
He said fraud in the sector is driven mainly by social engineering rather than technical hacking.
“The fraudsters don’t usually use many hacking techniques. They just play on our minds,” he said.
“They use manipulative methods, social engineering, fake calls, and a whole lot to get people to give out very vital information.”
According to him, fraudsters use the information they obtain to access victims’ mobile wallets and transfer funds.
Cab-Beyuo urged mobile money users to remain vigilant against fake phone calls and fraudulent SMS messages claiming they had won prizes.
“We need to know which one is real and which one is fake,” he said.
