Fake ‘minister of state’ jailed 12 months

A man who is noted for creating fake social media accounts to dupe unsuspecting victims has been jailed 12 months by a district court at Amasaman in Accra.

Deku Yawo Mawuenye Nyazozo, 27, was found guilty on charges of defrauding by pretence and stealing.

Prosecuting the case in court, the police said the convict in March 2020, created a Facebook account under the guise of being a Minister and a Member of Parliament and used the same to steal from his victims.

Prosecutors told the court that the convict engaged a lady in numerous Facebook and Whatsapp messages to win her trust.

A month later, he offered to give the lady an amount of ¢2,000 to support her upkeep. He then promised to send someone to deliver the money, the court heard.

Unknown to the lady, he was the same person who met her at a location at Tantra Hill, and in the course of their conversation, he convincingly collected the lady’s phone and escaped with it.

On August 1, this year, he was spotted by the lady at Dome market where she raised an alarm leading to his arrest. He admitted the offence and duly arraigned.

Ghanaian public officials under threat:

Public officials in Ghana are always targets of fraudsters who impersonate them on social media to defraud unsuspecting Ghanaians.

In January 2020, a young man name Nuetey Latif Ahinguah also known as Oliver and Emmanuel Asare was slapped with a 12-month prison sentence with hard labour for impersonating the Minister of Finance, Ken Ofori-Atta on social media.

He was jailed for defrauding by pretences.

According to the charge sheet, Ahinguah and his accomplices began creating fraudulent Facebook accounts in 2018.

Apart from targeting the Minister for Finance, they also created accounts in the name of National Security Minister, Albert Kan-Dapaah.

The Finance Minister is yet to open an official social media account.

Since August 2019, Ghana’s Security Agencies have recorded a significant upsurge in the use of fake accounts, particularly on Facebook, to swindle unsuspecting citizens.