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The Ghana Police Service says its investigations and monitoring on social media show a significant upsurge of fake social media accounts being created on Facebook and WhatsApp.
According to the police, the fake accounts are mostly created in the names of public institutions, ministers and senior public servants, and used to swindle unsuspecting members of the public.
“The fraudsters are using fake social media accounts of police officers even including the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to dupe unsuspecting people saying that they can be recruited into the police service on a protocol basis,” the Director General of Public Affairs at the Ghana Police Service ACP David Eklu stated in an interview with GhanaFact.
A statement from the Ghana Police Service dated November 7 also revealed some victims have already been duped of amounts ranging between five hundred Ghana cedis to five thousand Ghana cedis.
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Information Ministry
Ghana’s Information Ministry recently also cautioned Ghanaians against interacting with fake and unverified social media accounts created in the name of governmental institutions and agencies.
“…unverified accounts are mostly created in the names of Public Institutions, Ministers, Members of Parliament and other public figures. The accounts are used as platforms to promise jobs, scholarships, contracts and senior high school national service placements…In exchange, victims are lured into making advance cash payments to secure the offers…,”part of the October 27 statement read.
Recent complaints
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey and Member of Parliament for Ningo Prampram, Sam Dzata George, both recently alerted the public to clone scams involving their social media accounts.
Facebook worried
Facebook Anglophone West African representative, Adaora Ikenze says Africa has the lowest rate of reporting false information posted on Facebook globally, according to a Ghana News Agency report.
Contributing to a panel discussion on elections and cybersecurity as part of the National Cyber Security Awareness Month-2019 in Ghana, she called on users of social media to report such cases for them to be down-graded or removed for further investigations.
The Director General, Public Affairs of the Ghana Police Service ACP David Eklu says they are collaborating with Facebook to flag these fake accounts and have them taken down.
