General News
TrustGH Records More Than 6,000 Suspected Scam Numbers as TikTok Emerges as Major Fraud Channel
TrustGH, a scam verification and reporting platform, has identified more than 6,000 telephone numbers linked to suspected fraudulent activity, following community reports and open-source intelligence (OSINT) investigations conducted by its team of certified cybersecurity professionals.
The findings point to an evolving digital fraud landscape in Ghana, with scammers increasingly using social media platforms, messaging applications, online business directories, telecommunications channels and fraudulent websites to target individuals and businesses.
According to TrustGH, TikTok accounts for approximately 50 per cent of the reported scam numbers in its database, making it the largest identified source of reported scam activity.
SMS and WhatsApp also feature prominently among the reported cases, while other scam indicators have been traced to Facebook, Google Business Profiles, conventional telephone calls and fake websites.
TrustGH said its investigations show that many of the schemes depend more on social engineering than sophisticated technical attacks.
Scammers often impersonate trusted individuals, institutions or professionals to establish credibility before manipulating victims into transferring money or providing sensitive information.
Common impersonation targets include bank officials, government representatives, company executives, police officers, financial agents, recruitment officers and legitimate business owners.
After establishing trust, fraudsters may pressure victims to make payments, disclose one-time passwords (OTPs), provide Mobile Money credentials or share other sensitive information.
TrustGH noted that such tactics can result in financial losses or the compromise of victims’ accounts without scammers necessarily obtaining direct technical access to their devices.
Mobile Money remains the main target
More than 90 per cent of the scam cases analysed by TrustGH involved attempts to obtain Mobile Money payments or gain unauthorised access to victims’ Mobile Money accounts.
The platform identified several recurring categories of fraud, including Mobile Money scams, financial impersonation, fake online sellers, fraudulent Google Business Profiles, fake recruitment schemes, prize and lottery scams, social media fraud, suspicious callers and phishing-related account takeover attempts.
In phishing and account-takeover schemes, fraudsters seek to obtain authentication credentials, OTPs, passwords and other information that could give them unauthorised access to victims’ accounts.
TrustGH described the high proportion of Mobile Money-related incidents as a significant cybersecurity concern, particularly because of the widespread use of mobile financial services in Ghana.
The platform also reported a growing trend involving the abuse of legitimate business identities.
According to TrustGH, scammers create fraudulent social media accounts, advertisements and Google Business Profiles that closely imitate genuine companies.
These fake profiles may use legitimate business names, logos, locations and other publicly available information to create an appearance of authenticity and convince potential victims that they are dealing with a genuine business.
TikTok emerges as a major fraud channel
TrustGH’s finding that approximately half of the reported scam numbers are associated with TikTok highlights the increasing role of social media in the country’s fraud ecosystem.
Scammers can use platforms such as TikTok to create fraudulent identities, advertise fake products and services, and reach large numbers of potential victims.
Communication can then shift to WhatsApp, SMS or telephone calls, where fraudsters employ social-engineering tactics to complete the scam.
This creates a multi-channel attack chain, with different digital platforms being used at different stages of the same fraudulent operation.
TrustGH working with authorities
TrustGH said it is a licensed platform and works with the Cybersecurity Authority and the Cyber Crime Unit of the Ghana Police Service to combat scam activity and support investigations involving reported telephone numbers.
The platform is encouraging members of the public to verify suspicious numbers before engaging with callers or making payments and to report numbers suspected of being associated with fraudulent activity.
Members of the public can verify and report suspicious numbers through TrustGH.com.
The statement was issued by: TrustGH
Public Scam Verification & Reporting Platform