Online impersonation was a major threat to national security in June 2022, the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) has said.
This followed the Authority’sactive threat intelligence on social media.
A statement issued by CSA and copied the Ghana News Agency said online impersonation assumed a significant portion of fraudulent online activities.
It said the"unrestricted" nature of social media account registration processes granted all users the ability to assume any identity, which had emboldened scammers who generally took on the profiles of known businesses, and political and influential personalities in society for their criminal activities.
The statement said CSA observed that the impersonation targets included Ministers of State, Members of Parliament, other persons of influence; and institutions like the Customs Division of the Ghana Revenue Authority, Ghana Police Service, the National Lottery Authority, and companies like Dzata Cement and Awake Limited.
It said activities related to that scam included promotion of fraudulent investments, loan scams, gambling fraud, Government agent scam (award of non-existing contracts, grants, and scholarships), fake recruitment offers, solicitation of funds and online service fraud.
The statement advised the public and especially social media users that genuine Government officials would not contact anyone via social media to offer them jobs.
“It is important to verify before you accept friend requests and engage public figures and influential people; someone may have stolen their identity.”
“The CSA has a 24-hour Cybersecurity/Cybercrime Incident Reporting Points of Contact (POC) for reporting cybercrimes and for seeking clarification and guidance on online links and transactions; Call or Text - 292, WhatsApp - 0501603111, Email - [email protected],” it said.
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