Over 900 Social Media Accounts Masquerading MPs, Ambassadors, Others Dismantled

Nearly 1,000 fake social media accounts have been pulled down, the Ghana Police Service has announced after arresting suspected cyber criminals.

The accounts were said to be in the names of Members of Parliament, (MPs) Ministers of State, Ambassadors, Heads of government institutions and corporations.

According to the police, the accounts were used for defrauding purposes.

It will be recalled that in January when the Inspector-General of Police, Dr George Akufo Dampare, appeared before Parliament’s Public Account Committee (PAC), the issue of masquerading social media accounts was raised.

“There is this continuous increase in scams of various forms, especially people impersonating MPs. These persons operate with mobile phone numbers that unsuspecting victims call on and make payments, and these criminals go and cash out these monies. So, it is possible for them to be traced and arrested. We do not hear much of some of these things. What is the Police Service doing to help us deal with this canker?”, the lawmakers quizzed.

In response, the IGP said the issue was being tackled with various strategies.

“There are several levels to it; there is a policing component, there is also the individual persons’ security component, and also the community component. From the policing side, we have taken some pragmatic steps in recent times and started setting up a team to holistically look at some of these things.”

On the individual level, he said public education is underway and assured “a lot will be done” in dealing with the menace.

In a statement on Wednesday, March 1, the police administration announced the arrest of 12 suspected cyber criminals and said 973 masquerading social media accounts have been dismantled. 

“785 of the fake accounts were in the names of MPs, 62 in the names of security officials,136 for Ministers of State, Ambassadors and some heads of institutions”, the statement said.

Meanwhile, victims of cyber-related crimes have been urged to contact 0249850601 for further Police action.

Source: opemsuo.com/Hajara Fuseini