Nearly all reported financial-sector fraud cases in 2025 came from payment service providers, as criminals shifted towards Ghana’s fast-growing digital payment ecosystem.
Mobile money has become Ghana’s everyday bank. It is also becoming the country’s biggest fraud target. That makes the story central to both Ghana’s fintech sector and the wider digital economy.
Reported fraud cases across Ghana’s regulated financial sector jumped by 48% in 2025, rising from 16,733 to 24,778. However, the headline number hides the bigger shift: 24,124 of those cases were recorded by payment service providers, the companies behind mobile money, electronic wallets and other digital payment services.
That means PSPs accounted for roughly 97% of all reported cases.
According to the Bank of Ghana’s 2025 Fraud Report, electronic fraud cases within the PSP sector rose by 54% from 15,673 in 2024. The value at risk almost doubled, climbing from GH¢19 million to GH¢37 million.
This is no longer mainly a traditional banking story. Fraud has followed Ghanaian money onto the phone.
Fraud cases rise faster than the money exposed
Across banks, specialized deposit-taking institutions and PSPs, the total value at risk increased only slightly, from GH¢99 million in 2024 to GH¢101 million in 2025.
That distinction matters. “Value at risk” refers to the amount exposed through attempted or successful fraud. It is not automatically the same as confirmed money stolen or permanently lost.
The numbers suggest Ghana is seeing many more incidents, particularly across high-volume digital channels, without a comparable rise in the average amount attached to each case. Fraudsters appear to be targeting large numbers of users and transactions rather than relying only on a few high-value attacks.
The Bank of Ghana says fraud activity has progressively moved towards payment service providers as digital transaction volumes expand. It also points to relatively low levels of digital literacy among some users, despite the sector’s significant contribution to financial inclusion.
Why mobile money is the new target
Mobile money works because it is quick, accessible and familiar. Those same qualities also create opportunities for social engineering.
A criminal does not always need to break into a payment platform. It can be easier to frighten or pressure a user into approving the transaction. Common schemes include fake reversal requests, impersonation of relatives or employers, fraudulent promotions, compromised messaging accounts and calls requesting a PIN or one-time password.
The scam often begins with urgency: money has supposedly been sent by mistake, an account will allegedly be blocked, or a friend suddenly needs help. The objective is to stop the victim from checking independently.
As millions of Ghanaians use digital payments for bills, shopping, remittances and everyday transfers, the number of possible targets keeps growing. Stronger platform security therefore needs to be matched by better user awareness.
Traditional banks reported fewer cases
The trend outside digital payments was different.
Banks recorded 472 fraud cases in 2025, down 34% from 716 in 2024. Their value at risk also fell by 24%, from GH¢75 million to GH¢57 million.
Specialized deposit-taking institutions recorded 182 cases, a 47% reduction from 344. However, their value at risk rose by 77% to about GH¢8 million, showing that fewer incidents do not always mean lower exposure.
Employee involvement also declined. The number of bank and SDI workers implicated in fraud fell from 365 in 2024 to 219 in 2025, a 40% reduction. Seventy-five employees were dismissed over fraud-related offences, compared with 155 the previous year.
These improvements suggest stronger internal controls are having an effect in some traditional institutions. The problem is that the fraud frontier has moved.
The recovery gap remains a concern
Recovering money after fraud remains difficult. About GH¢3.7 million was recovered from a reported fraud value at risk of GH¢68.2 million, according to coverage of the report. That was roughly 5%, leaving an exposure of approximately GH¢64.5 million.
Recovery can be slowed by money moving quickly between accounts, incomplete customer information, delayed reporting and lengthy investigations. For victims, reporting immediately may determine whether a suspicious transfer can still be traced or frozen.
The sector therefore needs more than public warnings. Payment providers need real-time behavioural monitoring, stronger verification for unusual transactions, effective agent oversight and simple reporting tools. Regulators, providers, law enforcement and telecom operators also need faster information-sharing.
What mobile money users should do
The most useful rule is simple: pause before sending.
Check your actual wallet balance rather than trusting an SMS or screenshot. If someone you know requests money from a new number, call them using a number already saved in your contacts. Never disclose your mobile money PIN, one-time password or verification code.
If a caller claims to be reversing a transaction, end the call and contact the provider through an official channel. Do not install an app, follow an unfamiliar link or transfer money to “secure” your wallet.
Victims should contact their payment provider immediately, preserve messages and transaction references, and report the incident through official law-enforcement or cybersecurity channels.
Ghana’s cashless success now needs a security upgrade
The surge in mobile money fraud in Ghana does not erase the value of digital finance. Mobile money has widened access, made payments easier and connected people who were previously underserved.
But financial inclusion without security can shift risk onto the very users the system is meant to help.
The Bank of Ghana’s latest report is a warning that fraud prevention must move at the same speed as digital adoption. The platforms have grown. The protections, reporting systems and public knowledge surrounding them must now catch up.
