Inside the POS trick in Ghana that allegedly defrauded foreign card holders

A coordinated cybercrime investigation involving Ghanaian and international law enforcement agencies has exposed an alleged Point of Sale (POS) fraud scheme that targeted foreign-issued bank cards at fuel stations in Accra, leading to the arrest and prosecution of a Nigerian national.

The suspect, Aderinsola Oluwanifemi Adeleye, a cement block manufacturer residing at Oyarifa in Accra, is said to have played a key role in a network that used compromised United States bank cards to carry out fraudulent transactions at fuel stations.

Nigerian suspect linked to INTERPOL, FBI fraud investigations arrested in Ghana

The investigation started on June 25, 2026, when the manager of Haatso Shell Filling Station reported suspicious POS transactions to police.

The report followed a complaint received by Shell Headquarters from Ecobank Ghana PLC concerning unusual transactions involving two Citibank debit cards.

According to investigators, the transactions were traced to POS terminals at Haatso Shell Filling Station and Osu Total Filling Station.

Internal checks by Shell Ghana led to the identification of two fuel pump attendants suspected of assisting the fraud.

The attendants were arrested and allegedly told police that the suspect, together with an accomplice, had repeatedly used the fuel stations to process fraudulent transactions using mobile devices linked to foreign debit cards.

Later that same day, at about 8:00 pm, the accused allegedly returned to Haatso Shell Filling Station to conduct another transaction using one of the Citibank debit cards.

He was identified by the attendants and immediately arrested by police.

A search conducted on the accused by authorities at the time of his arrest led to the recovery of a Beretta pistol loaded with two rounds of 9mm live ammunition and a Citibank Visa debit card bearing the number 5262 2611 2797 4764.

Investigators subsequently searched the offices of AA Global Homes Construction Limited at Katamanso in Accra.

During the search, officers found 15 rounds of 9mm live ammunition and an empty shell casing hidden in a drawer.

The recovered ammunition and shell casing were retained as exhibits pending further investigations into their possession and possible use.

Investigators disclosed that the accused had already come under the intelligence radar of the Cyber Security Authority before his arrest in connection with suspected cyber-enabled financial crimes.

Acting on intelligence gathered, the Ghana Police Service, working in collaboration with the Cyber Security Authority, obtained a court-issued search warrant to search the accused's residence at Oyarifa.

The search was executed on June 27, 2026, during which investigators recovered several electronic devices, including two mobile phones believed to have been used in committing the alleged offences.

The investigation further revealed that the accused allegedly invested the proceeds of the scheme in acquiring substantial assets, including a four-bedroom storey building, a cement block manufacturing factory at Katamanso near Amrahia, a black Nissan ZNA pickup vehicle, and other properties reasonably suspected to have been purchased with proceeds of crime.

Nigerian suspect linked to INTERPOL, FBI fraud investigations arrested in Ghana

The accused has since been formally charged and arraigned before the appropriate court, where the matter is currently pending.

MAG/VPO

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