The 2020 Banking Industry Fraud Report by the Bank of Ghana reveals that 2,670 fraud cases were recorded at the value of GH¢1 billion.
The report stated that "In 2020 many routine activities of institutions including financial transactions that usually would have been undertaken in-person were conducted online."
"Customers who were not used to digital/electronic methods of making financial transactions were compelled to use them. Consequently, some sections of the banking sector were exposed to heightened levels of fraud-related risk, due tothe increased patronage of electronic/digital products and services."
"The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic propelled the use of digital/electronic modes of transacting business, leading to a higher exposure to fraud."
"The year 2020 recorded a marginal increase in reported fraud incidents with a minimal decrease in losses. The reduction in losses was mainly due to a reduction in the rate of success for most fraud types. A total case count of 2,670 cases were recorded in the year 2020, as compared to 2,311cases in 2019."
"The Reported value of fraud for 2020 was GH¢1.0 billion, as compared to GH¢115.51million recorded in 2019. (Refer to Table 3). The notable increase in the value reported was as a result of high values recorded in attempted correspondent banking fraud (forgery of SWIFT advice). Even though the banking sector did not suffer any losses from any of the correspondent banking fraud attempts, it posed a reputational risk to some banks, whose staff were found culpable in two of the three reported incidents."
"Losses incurred as a result of fraud for 2020 stands at GH¢25.40 million, as compared to an estimated loss of GH¢33.44 million in 2019, representing a 24.0%decrease. (Refer to Table 4 below)."
Full report below:
Â
Â