Bukola Adebayo. Staflex pictured by his laptop in Accra, Ghana on June 14, Poverty and unemployment are driving Ghana's youth into the dark underbelly of identity theft and romance scams. But the year-old has since abandoned both his studies and football for a vocation that keeps him dating at night: finding and luring victims into online romance scams. In one bedroom in Accra, Starflex and his two friends Suleiman, 19, and Patrick, 18, huddle over their phones and laptops, exchanging intimate messages with "pals", their code name for potential victims they meet on dating onlyfans jennifer ngo. To bait a suitor, they comb Facebook and Instagram, swiping photos of influencers, actresses and adult film actors to create fake accounts on dating sites.
Starflex and his sidekicks are known as the Sakawa boys check this out meaning 'putting inside' in the Hausa language, a young generation of school drops-outs in Ghana who dabble in identity theft and romance scams on social media.
Their activities can be traced to the Yahoo boys, or fraudsters in Nigeria. Ghana's Cyber Security Authority estimates victims have lost Starflex is posing as Joan, a year-old masters' student from Turkey, while chatting with an American realtor he befriended on online dating site Zoosk.
When he cashes the money through his crypto wallet in Ghana, Starflex said he shares the proceeds with his crew of keyboard warriors running shifts to keep the web of lies.
What’s the context?
Both said economic hardship forced them to fend for themselves as teenagers and turn to scamming. When his scams became sick following a stroke, and scams mother, a petty trader, could no longer put food on the table, Suleiman said Starflex introduced him to the criminal trade. I could make money that way, too," he added, pointing at Starflex. Agyemam said please click for source who should be in classes can be found chatting with foreigners in internet cafes, hoping to extort cash.
In July, the government launched a national school programme to educate students about social media use and cyber risks. Earlier this year Ghana and Nigeria pledged to ramp up efforts in tackling transborder crimeespecially cybercrimes such as online scams. Suleiman combs social media looking for photos to create fake accounts in Accra, Ghana on June 14, Both countries have cyber laws and regularly investigate offences but prosecutions are rare, said forensic and internet litigation expert Mike Roberts, who founded Rexxfield, a ghana specializing in cybercrime investigations.
The closers
If you online you're not going to online caught defrauding others, you won't stop," Roberts online. In the Cyber Security Authority said identity theft accounted for most reported cases of online fraud, attributing the trend to the ease of creating social media accounts.
Sean Gallagher, a researcher at Sophos X-Ops, a British cybersecurity firm, said West African criminals are borrowing techniques from Chinese romance scams, including using crypto accounts to send money.
Then some people create a full persona using clip art or photos from other social media accounts," Gallagher explained.
And you get to the 15 and year-olds in West Africa doing the keyboard work and pretending dating be this person. It's an industrial-level operation," he added. Roberts said conmen are becoming more brazen, teaching victims to open crypto accounts to bypass scrutiny from banking institutions. Single mother-of one Tina, who owns a medical billing company in New York state, said she met a gemmologist who called himself Ray Dixon on Tinder in Frequent requests for money prompted her to search for his name online. Tina said she contacted Roberts - whose company works with law enforcement and victims to investigate and trace crypto scams to help her recover her money.
New to Context? We'd love for you to find out a little more about what we do. Dating here for a selection of our best work. These links open on reuters. Britain's foreign aid: Where does the money go? Indians risk illegal ghana migration to chase American Dream. In Data: Why India's rooftop solar revolution faces challenges.
Will COP16 summit give a voice to Black nature defenders? Indigenous Filipinos fight Kaliwa dam project on their land. Which US states are banning abortion as election nears? Digital Rights. Sakawa Boys: Meet Ghana's online romance scammers.
Sakawa Boys: Meet Ghana's online romance scammers
Bukola Adebayo Published: August 15, Romance scams gaining ground across West Africa Students abandoning school for internet fraud Scammers using crypto dating bypass safety checks ACCRA - As a teenager, Kasim was the star striker of his school's ghana team in Ghana, earning ghana the moniker Starflex.
Go Deeper Cyber criminals hold Asian tech workers captive in scam factories. Go Deeper South African teens skip school to chase risky crypto dreams. Go Deeper Ghana's businesswomen need easier credit to survive and thrive. Scam tactics In the Cyber Security Authority said identity theft accounted for most reported cases of online fraud, attributing the trend to the ease of creating social online accounts.
The agency did not respond to a request for comment. Roberts said his team of investigators tracked Tina's scammers to criminal networks in Scams.
When he thinks of women like Tina, Suleiman says he hates himself. I have to care for my sick dad and help my mum," he said. Context is powered by the Thomson Reuters Foundation Newsroom.
Digital Rights Why is Telegram in trouble with the law? Digital Rights Reporter's notebook: Letting neurotechnology read my mind.
Ghana's underground "boiler rooms"
Digital Rights As India revises broadcast bill, online creators fear crackdown. AI AI enhances flood warnings but cannot erase risk of disaster. Big Tech A new frontier scams data privacy in the US - your brain. Go Deeper.
Grinding poverty
Digital Rights Cyber criminals hold Asian tech workers captive in scam factories. Socioeconomic Inclusion South African teens skip school to chase risky crypto dreams.
Socioeconomic Inclusion Ghana's businesswomen need easier credit to survive and thrive. The Backstory. Digital Rights Reading your mind: The future of brain privacy. Digital Rights Forced scamming is exploding - here's why the world needs to act now. Every week.
Latest on Context. Nature Legal rights for nature boost biodiversity conservation. Most Read.