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Crime & Punishment of Monday, 6 November 2006

Source: nana ama otiwa (mansah83@hotmail.com)

Impersonating Hon. Yaw Osafo Maafo

There is an email circulating around the world. The author of the email claims to be Hon. Yaw Osafo Maafo. This is called an Identity Theft. Identity theft is wrongfully impersonating someone by vilifying the person for one’s own selfish ends.

Identity Theft is a crime in most countries, including Britain and the United States. In Ghana, there is a law for impersonating government officials and citizens of the country. Impersonators can be prosecuted for identity theft crimes. People who engage in such practices could be imprisoned or serve jail time if found guilty by a court of law.

The impersonator shouldn’t think his email couldn’t be traced. A concerned group is investigating what is going on with this impersonator. We have been able to identify the source of the email (i.e. the computer from which the email was generated, including the MAC address of the computer). We want the impersonator to understand that when our investigation is complete, information gathered would be turned over to the appropriate Law Enforcement Agency in the country where the impersonator resides. We can also trace the HYPERLINK –mail to: yaw_osafo_maafo@excite.com" yaw_osafo_maafo@excite.com).

What all this means is that no one can commit a crime of this nature and get away with it. The crime will be uncovered. And whoever is involved will be punished according to the law.