Facing a broken economy, Ghana’s tech-savvy teens turn to fraud

From mobile money fraud to investment scams, a murky digital underworld is sucking in minors, many working from their bedrooms or small kiosks operating in plain sight – anywhere with a stable Internet connection. — Pixabay

ACCRA: In the dusty alleys of Nima, a shanty town in the heart of Ghana’s capital, a 17-year-old called Ghost reclines on a faded plastic chair inside a dimly lit Internet cafe.

Outside, barefoot children chase a punctured football. Inside, Ghost’s fingers dance across the keyboard, his eyes locked on WhatsApp as he engineers a phishing scam that could earn him thousands of cedis in just a few hours.