Ghana recorded 3,876 cyber security incidents between January and July 2026, with online fraud accounting for 1,818 cases, or about 47% of all incidents reported to the national Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-GH), the Cyber Security Authority (CSA) has disclosed.
The figures were announced by Divine Selase Agbeti, Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority, at the launch of the 2026 National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) in Accra.
The month-long campaign is being held under the theme “Securing Ghana’s Digital Finance Ecosystem: Building Trust Through Collaboration and Cyber Resilience”, with stakeholders warning that the rapid adoption of digital financial services is creating new opportunities for cybercriminals to exploit individuals, businesses and financial institutions.
Mr Agbeti said the scale of online fraud demonstrated that Ghana’s digital transformation must be matched by stronger security measures, public awareness and coordinated action among institutions.
“Adoption is accelerating, but basic security is not keeping pace,” he said.
The CSA’s concerns are reinforced by data from the Bank of Ghana’s 2025 Fraud Report, which, according to Mr Agbeti, recorded a 48% increase in reported fraud cases across banks, specialised deposit-taking institutions and payment service providers.
Reported cases increased from 16,733 in 2024 to 24,778 in 2025, while the total value at risk reached GH¢101 million.
Mr Agbeti said the figures should not be viewed merely as technical incidents because they have direct consequences for individuals, families and businesses.
“Behind each figure is a citizen, family, merchant, or institution that may have suffered financial loss, disruption, emotional distress, or reputational damage,” he said.
He warned banks, fintechs, payment service providers, insurance companies and merchants against treating cybersecurity as a compliance requirement or a responsibility that can be left solely to information technology departments.
“Cybersecurity cannot remain a compliance exercise done solely for the regulator, a technology project delegated solely to the IT department, or an expense deferred until after an incident,” Mr Agbeti said.
Mr Agbeti further highlighted the growing role of artificial intelligence in cyber-enabled fraud, saying criminals can now use the technology to make impersonation and social engineering attacks faster and more convincing.
He cited the ability of criminals to clone voices, compromise legitimate email accounts and manipulate payment instructions as examples of how traditional security assumptions are being challenged.
“A familiar logo is no longer a proof of authenticity. A convincing voice may be cloned,” he said.
He urged financial institutions and digital commerce organisations to strengthen identity and access management, enforce multi-factor authentication, monitor transactions and privileged activity in real time, test incident response systems and protect customer data.