Ghana lost an estimated $1.3 million to mobile money fraud in the first quarter of 2025 alone, with criminals increasingly exploiting gaps in its digital payment ecosystem, a newly published INTERPOL African Cyberthreat Assessment Report 2026 has confirmed.
The figure places Ghana among a growing list of African countries where mobile money has become a prime target for cybercriminals.
INTERPOL’s report, drawn from a survey of 36 African member countries alongside private-sector threat intelligence, found that mobile money fraud was the most frequently reported scam type on the continent in 2025, cited by 97 percent of countries that responded to the survey.
“Online scams remain the most frequently reported cybercrime type across the region, often serving as the initial entry vector for identity theft and subsequent financial fraud,” the report states.
The report attributes the losses to a high rate of criminals hijacking SIM cards, often by psychologically manipulating telecom customer service agents to seize control of the mobile wallets linked to them. Once inside, fraudsters can drain the funds within minutes.
INTERPOL traced the root cause to inconsistent identity verification standards among telecom operators.
“The root cause remains inconsistent KYC protocols, particularly in countries where telecom providers lack the technical capacity to verify identity in real time,” the report notes.
The pattern is not confined to Ghana alone. Kenya also recorded a 327 percent rise in SIM-swap fraud in 2025, with more than 123,000 fraudulent SIM cards issued and an estimated $3.8 million drained from mobile wallets.
Tanzania, meanwhile, reported a 19 percent drop in fraud attempts after tightening SIM registration enforcement. INTERPOL suggests that stronger verification measures can curb losses.