TrustGH, a scam verification and reporting platform, has identified more than 6,000 telephone numbers linked to suspected fraudulent activities in Ghana.
The figures are based on community reports and open-source intelligence (OSINT) investigations conducted by TrustGH’s team of certified cybersecurity professionals.
According to the platform, the findings point to an evolving digital fraud landscape in Ghana, with fraudsters increasingly exploiting social media platforms, messaging applications, online business directories, telecommunications channels and fraudulent websites to target individuals and businesses.
TrustGH said approximately 50 per cent of the reported scam numbers in its database are linked to TikTok, making the platform the largest identified source of reported scam activity.
SMS and WhatsApp also account for a significant proportion of reported cases, while other reported indicators have been traced to Facebook, Google Business Profiles, telephone calls and fake websites.
Social engineering drives many scams
TrustGH said many of the schemes rely more on social engineering than sophisticated technical attacks.
The platform explained that fraudsters often impersonate trusted individuals or organisations to establish credibility and manipulate victims into transferring money or disclosing sensitive information.
According to the findings, scammers may pose as bank officials, government representatives, company executives, police officers, financial agents, recruitment officers or legitimate business owners.
Once they gain the victim’s trust, they may pressure them to make payments or disclose one-time passwords (OTPs), Mobile Money credentials, passwords and other sensitive information.
Such tactics, TrustGH said, can result in financial losses or account compromise without the fraudster necessarily obtaining direct technical access to the victim’s device.
Mobile Money remains key target
TrustGH said more than 90 per cent of the scam cases it analysed involved attempts to obtain Mobile Money payments or gain unauthorised access to victims’ Mobile Money accounts.
The platform identified several recurring categories of fraud, including Mobile Money scams, 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, fraudsters seek authentication credentials, OTPs, passwords or other information that could be used to gain unauthorised access to victims’ accounts.
TrustGH described the high proportion of Mobile Money-related incidents as a significant cybersecurity concern, given the widespread use of mobile financial services in Ghana.
Fraudsters exploit legitimate businesses
The platform also identified a growing trend involving the impersonation and abuse of legitimate business identities.
According to TrustGH, fraudsters create fake social media accounts, advertisements and Google Business Profiles designed to closely resemble genuine companies.
The fraudulent profiles may use legitimate business names, logos, locations and other publicly available information to create an appearance of authenticity and deceive potential victims.
TrustGH said the high number of scam indicators linked to TikTok underscores the growing role of social media in the fraud ecosystem.
Fraudsters can use social platforms to create fake identities, advertise counterfeit products or services and reach large numbers of potential victims before shifting communication to WhatsApp, SMS or telephone calls to complete the scam.
The platform described this as a multi-channel attack chain in which different platforms are used at various stages of the same fraudulent scheme.
TrustGH collaborates with security agencies
TrustGH said it is a licensed platform and works with the Cybersecurity Authority and the Cyber Crime Unit of the Ghana Police Service to combat scam activity and support investigations involving reported numbers.
It has urged members of the public to verify suspicious numbers and report suspected scam activity through TrustGH.com.
