BoG raises alarm as digital financial fraud cases climb 98% from 2022 to 2025

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) has warned of growing financial crime risks in the digital space, following a sharp increase in fraud incidents involving payment service providers.

Speaking at the opening of a technical committee workshop of the Committee for Cooperation Between Law Enforcement Agencies and the Banking Community (COCLAB), Second Deputy Governor of the BoG, Matilda Asante-Asiedu, said criminals were increasingly targeting digital channels as electronic transactions expand.

According to her, the rise in digital fraud reflects a broader change in the financial crime landscape and requires stronger collaboration between regulators, financial institutions and law enforcement agencies.

“It is not just a shift in the statistics or the data, but it’s also a shift in the financial crime landscape itself,” she said.

Mrs. Asante-Asiedu said fraud cases involving payment service providers increased by 98% between 2022 and 2025, while fraud cases across the broader regulated financial sector rose from 16,733 in 2024 to 24,778 in 2025.

“Between 2022 and 2025, fraud incidents in the digital space increased by 98%, confirming again that criminal activity is also following the growth in digital transactions,” she said.

She explained that the interconnected nature of digital finance means fraud affecting a payment service provider can have implications for the wider financial system.

“It’s not just a challenge for a PSP. Because think about it, a PSP’s account sits with a bank. And so if that fraud incident happens, it transcends one institution and it affects the entire financial ecosystem,” she said.

Mrs. Asante-Asiedu therefore urged COCLAB members to improve intelligence sharing, investigations, prosecutions and public education to make it harder for fraudsters to operate.

“We should be so efficient that when the fraudster begins to think through their next move, they’ll also think, gosh, what if these people arrest me?” she said.

The BoG’s 2025 Fraud Report shows that while banks and specialised deposit-taking institutions recorded reductions in fraud cases over the four-year period, the payment service provider sector experienced a significant increase.

The Bank attributed the shift to the rapid growth in digital transactions, alongside relatively lower levels of digital literacy among some users.

The development comes as digital payments become increasingly central to everyday economic activity in Ghana.

The BoG has described the country’s digital payment infrastructure as a major driver of financial inclusion, but has also identified cybersecurity, data governance and related risks as challenges that need stronger attention.