The Cyber Security Authority (CSA) has revealed that online fraud accounted for nearly half of all cybersecurity incidents recorded in Ghana between January and July 2026, raising fresh concerns over the growing threat to digital financial services.

The national Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-GH) recorded 3,876 cybersecurity incidents during the seven-month period, with 1,818 cases, representing approximately 47%, linked to online fraud.

Director-General of the CSA, Divine Selase Agbeti, disclosed this at the launch of the 2026 National Cyber Security Awareness Month in Accra.

He warned that the rapid expansion of digital financial services was creating new opportunities for cybercriminals, particularly as more Ghanaians rely on mobile money, online banking and other digital payment platforms.

Agbeti also cited figures from the Bank of Ghana’s 2025 Fraud Report, which showed a significant increase in reported fraud cases involving banks, specialised deposit-taking institutions and payment service providers.

According to the report, reported cases increased by 48%, from 16,733 in 2024 to 24,778 in 2025, with about GH¢101 million identified as being at risk.

The CSA Director-General said the growing scale of cyber-enabled fraud poses a direct threat to public confidence in Ghana’s digital financial ecosystem.

He urged financial institutions and businesses to move beyond treating cybersecurity as an information technology or regulatory obligation and instead make it a core responsibility of corporate leadership.

“Once customers believe that a mobile money wallet can be emptied without recourse, that an online merchant may be fraudulent, that a bank transfer can be diverted, or that personal data can be abused without consequence, confidence erodes,” he said.

Agbeti stressed that cybersecurity should be treated as a board-level governance obligation and an essential component of operational resilience.

He called on businesses and financial institutions to strengthen their security systems through measures including multi-factor authentication, improved identity management, regular vulnerability assessments and stronger incident-response mechanisms.

The CSA boss further warned that the growing use of artificial intelligence was giving criminals new tools to make scams more convincing.

He said criminals were increasingly capable of using technologies such as voice cloning, impersonation and sophisticated social engineering techniques to deceive unsuspecting victims.

“No institution should wait to become a victim before taking cybersecurity seriously,” Agbeti cautioned.

He said Ghana’s ability to expand its digital financial ecosystem would depend not only on the speed of technological innovation but also on the country’s ability to protect users and maintain trust in digital platforms.

“Ghana’s digital finance future will be shaped not only by how quickly we innovate but also by how safely we do so,” he said.