The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has reported a 98% surge in fraud cases in Ghana’s digital financial sector from 2022 to 2025

Three years before the 2022–2025 period, Ghana’s banking industry recorded 2,295 fraud cases in 2019, with a reported fraud value of about GH¢115.52 million. Of this, GH¢33.44 million was actual losses, while GH¢82.06 million was recovered.

Speaking at the opening of the Technical Committee Workshop of the Committee for Cooperation Between Law Enforcement Agencies and the Banking Community (COCLAB), held at the Royal Senchi Hotel in the Eastern Region on Thursday, September 10, Second Deputy Governor of BoG, Matilda Asante-Asiedu, linked the surge in cases to the growing movement of financial activity into digital channels.

“Between 2022 and 2025, fraud incidents in the digital space increased by 98%, confirming again that criminal activity is also following the growth in digital transactions,” she said.

She said fraudsters are increasingly targeting customers through the same platforms they use for electronic payments.

The Deputy Governor noted that the total fraud cases recorded across the country’s financial sector also increased significantly, rising from 16,733 in 2024 to 24,778 in 2025, representing a 48% jump.

According to her, the sharp increase was largely linked to digital financial transactions, while fraud cases recorded within the traditional banking sector recorded a decline.

“It is not just a shift in the statistics or the data, but it’s also a shift in the financial crime landscape itself,” she said.

She said the changing nature of financial crime requires regulators, banks, financial technology companies and law enforcement agencies to adopt new approaches to detecting and preventing fraud.

The Second Deputy Governor further warned that fraud involving digital financial service providers cannot be treated as an isolated problem because of the strong links between payment service providers, banks and other players within the financial ecosystem.

“It’s 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.

Mrs Asante-Asiedu stressed the need for early action as fraudsters become more sophisticated and consumers increasingly rely on digital platforms for everyday financial transactions.

She called on members of COCLAB to improve intelligence sharing, investigations, prosecutions and public education as part of efforts to tackle financial crimes.

She said the effectiveness of such interventions should ultimately be reflected in fewer fraud cases and stronger safeguards for customers.

“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?” she said.