At least 12 persons have been arrested by the police for engaging in cyber fraud.
The suspected fraudsters were using the identities of Members of Parliament, ministers, security officers, chief executive officers of known institutions among others to defraud their victims.
They were arrested following a sustained cyber-intelligence operation, the police said in a statement.
The security agency is pursuing over 25 others for their involvement in cyber-related crimes.
“Investigation has established that the modus of the criminal syndicate is to impersonate or hack into the social media accounts of prominent persons including Ministers of State, Members of Parliament (MPs), Heads of government institutions and corporate entities to defraud unsuspecting victims of various sums of money by promising them jobs, scholarships, publication of fake promotional advertisements and sale of products among others.”
As part of the operation, 973 fake social media accounts created by the suspects in the names of these prominent persons and corporate entities have been pulled down.
The police said 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 Police have also recovered 32 mobile phones, three (3) laptops and 54 SIM cards used by the suspects to commit their crimes.
“The operation to clamp down on cyber-related crimes has been institutionalised and we would like to urge anyone who has fallen victim to any of the above-mentioned crimes to contact 0249850601 for further police action. This is a dedicated number solely for this exercise,” the police statement announced.
The twelve (12) suspects are: Gideon Kove alias Billions, Felicia Nanewortor, Carl Kristal, Safari Zatey, Eric Acquah alias Cent Mona, Richard Agbadzi, Isaac Dortsue alias Barajah, Samuel Gadre, Moses Otchie alias Razak, Yonnah Boso, Sterling Kwame Doe and Wisdom Tornyie.
The suspects are currently assisting the police investigation and will be put before the court to face justice.
