More than 6,000 telephone numbers linked to suspected fraudulent activities have been identified by scam verification and reporting platform TrustGH.
In a statement issued on Monday, August 31 the platform said the numbers were flagged through community reports and open-source intelligence investigations by its team of certified cybersecurity professionals.
According to TrustGH’s analysis, approximately 50 per cent of reported scam numbers are linked to TikTok, making it the largest single source of reported scam activity within the platform’s database.
SMS and WhatsApp also account for a significant proportion of reported cases, while other indicators have been traced to Facebook, Google Business Profiles, telephone calls and fake websites.
The platform says most of the scams rely on social engineering, with fraudsters impersonating bank officials, government representatives, company executives, police officers, recruitment officers and legitimate business owners to gain victims’ trust.
More than 90 per cent of the reported cases involved attempts to obtain Mobile Money payments or gain unauthorised access to victims’ Mobile Money accounts.
“TrustGH considers the high proportion of Mobile Money-related incidents a significant cybersecurity concern given the widespread use of mobile financial services in Ghana”the statement said.
TrustGH says scammers also use fake online shops, recruitment schemes, lottery promotions, fraudulent business profiles and phishing attempts to deceive victims.
It has warned that fraudsters increasingly move conversations across multiple platforms, often using TikTok to attract victims before switching to WhatsApp, SMS or phone calls to complete the scam.
TrustGH says it is working with the Cybersecurity Authority and the Cyber Crime Unit of the Ghana Police Service to support investigations.
“Members of the public can verify and report suspicious numbers through TrustGH.com” the statement added.
