Digital fraud incidents rise 98% between 2022 and 2025 – BoG

The Bank of Ghana says fraud incidents in the digital space increased by 98% between 2022 and 2025, as financial criminals increasingly exploit the rapid growth in digital transactions. According to Central Bank, the sharp increase reflects a changing financial crime landscape, with fraudsters increasingly targeting digital platforms as more Ghanaians rely on electronic channels to make payments and transfer funds. The Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Matilda Asante Asiedu, says the development requires a significant shift in the way financial crime is tackled. “It is not just a shift in the statistics or the data, but it’s also a shift in the financial crime landscape itself. And that means that as entities that are responsible for combating that, we also have to have a shift in our strategy and in our mindset,” she said.

She was speaking at the opening of the 2026 Technical Committee Workshop of the Committee for Cooperation Between Law Enforcement Agencies and the Banking Community (OCLAB). According to the Bank of Ghana, overall fraud incidents across the financial ecosystem increased from 16,733 in 2024 to 24,778 in 2025, representing a 48% increase. While fraud incidents within the traditional banking system declined, the Bank says fraud across the wider financial ecosystem increased, driven overwhelmingly by digital transactions. Mrs. Asante Asiedu said the increasing interconnectedness of the financial sector means a fraud incident involving one institution can have consequences for the wider ecosystem. “This is 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. She added that mobile…