The writer Chief Obosu Mohammed is a student and Zongo youth activist

Internet fraud a.k.a ''Sakawa'' – a term which is derived from Hausa and means “put inside” – has in recent times generated headlines and a huge public outcry against it.

Sakawa emerged in the late nineties and was the preoccupation of a few youngsters who were highly intelligent and smart mainly in the Zongo communities namely Nima, Mamobi and Newtown.

At that time it involved the use of credit cards to do online shopping. Goods purchased were either shipped directly to Ghana or through partners oversees. Population experts are already pointing to the influx of foreigners, from within the sub-region, especially from Nigeria, into the country when these criminals realized scamming was no longer lucrative in their countries, as a contributory factor.

This indeed introduced a new twist into the game. They brought new ideas and modus operandi which resonated well with their counterparts down here.

Men posed as women to chat with unsuspecting victims online. Such imposters pretend to be in love with their supposed “boy friends.” For a marriage to be established the boy friend is asked to send down gifts, and huge sums of money. The scammers also resort to “business transactions” with unsuspecting clients and partners online.

They therefore deal in non-existing gold dust, timber, securities and oil – in which they use sophisticated documents from government agencies to establish authenticity. Another modus has been the issuance of fake checks in the name of their victims to be cashed at their respective banks and later wired to them as well as the hacking of bank details and credit cards to transfer money from one bank account to the other.

These activities increased in major areas especially in the southern sector of the country. Some of the youth see it as a very lucrative God-sent business to relieve them of their predicaments and hardship.

Until recently another modus operandi has been added to the phenomenon which is voodooism. They engage in occults and other spiritual assistance to facilitate their activities and enrich themselves more whiles others resort to blood money known in our local parlance as ''sika aduro''. These have brought about three groups in these activities which are 1.Those who link cyber fraud with voodooism 2.Those who strictly use their brains and discount voodooism. 3.Those who seek blood money a.k.a sika eduro with the pretense of also engaging in cyber fraud.

The practice has become so intensive that the security services have become handicapped and could not contain it any longer. Its obvious that there well over 100,000 people indulging in these activities till date.

Factors that accounted for rapid growth

Unemployment is a major undeniable factor which has plunged many youth in these fraudulent activities. Most of the youth that indulge in these activities are viable from deprived areas and slums, hence low level of education and skills. Therefore they resort to it as a means of improving their standard of living.

Greediness and the burning desire to get rich over night is also a factor to that.

The perception that political leaders are corrupt also has a role to play in it. Most of them believe since their leaders will use the pen and paper to defraud the state and live flamboyant life styles at their expense, they will also use the internet to get money and solve most of the problems confronting them as citizens.

The notion that its pay back time for our colonial masters who deprived us and stole our natural resources to build and develop their countries, leaving us in absolute poverty, also has contributed to this vicious practice.

Peer pressure in instances when people see their colleagues driving in flashy cars, wearing of quality clothes and having all the better girls, they are forced into it so they could also live an ostentatious life.

Negative effect on economy

Ghana has been shortlisted among countries with a high rate of cyber fraud, which is scare in the international business community. In recent times many foreign companies have been too careful to engage Ghanaian companies in business deals. This means government loosing revenue especially from the private sector.

E-commerce has also suffered a major setback due to restriction of Ghana to partake in online trade on most of the international companies’ websites.

The government will have to spend scarce resources to combat these crimes. These resources could have been used for other infrastructural development.

Human resources is being depleted since most of the youth who indulge in these don't find education and acquiring of skills relevant – they are able to meet their daily needs and live much comfortable lives.

Positive effect on economy

The economy has seen a significant increase in remittances during the last decade. Research has showed that remittances increased from $449million in 1999 to $1.8 billion and $1.9 billion in 2007 and 2008 respectively.

Undoubtedly cyber fraud played a significant role in achieving these successes when it was at its peak within that period. Some of the money accrued from those activities were sent by victims through the various money transfer systems and banks. One could imagine the number of people involved in those activities and the gravity of money been sent to them, its no wonder when u visit most of these money transfer outlets and 95% of the people receiving cash are engaged in cyber fraud.

However, the trend has changed due to the credit crunch that has hit the world. It has culminated in making cyber fraud not that attractive any longer since most of the victims send less money or do not send at all due to the high level of unemployment, hence the decline in remittances for the first quarter of 2009 – the global credit squeeze could also be cited as a factory anyway.

Remedy

The government has to act swiftly in building more infrastructure such as educational and training facilities in these deprived areas so as to enhance their skills and educational level. More job opportunities should be created and small loan schemes should be provided to enable people who acquire technical skills to start an enterprise.

The security agencies must also boost up their operations and strategies so as to make the operations of the fraudsters unattractive and recommend stiffer punishments for offenders.

Parents, religious and community leaders have a vital role to play in educating or preaching morality and discipline to the youth and must be concerned about the day-to-day activities of their wards and members so as to curb these menace.

It is important the role of the youth in nation building is not underestimated. There should be enabling platform to engage the youth into useful activities to curb some of the major problems confronting us as a nation. The kind of generation we build today will determine our future as a country. Therefore lets embrace our collective responsibility in making and building a vibrant and skilful youth force for the task ahead.


Author: Chief Obosu Mohammed, a Zongo youth activist

Email: obosu.mohammed@yahoo.com