Police in Ghana say they have saved dozens of Nigeria fraud fraud

About 76 Ghana people, who were trafficking in Nigeria in a fraudulent recruitment scheme, have been rescued, according to Gansky police.

Victims, mostly young men, were lured by promises of football contracts with top foreign teams, jobs abroad or help processing.

After their arrival, their travel documents and mobile phones were seized and they were placed in overcrowded premises under poor conditions, police say.

Victims were forced to contact their families to ask for about $ 1,000 (£ 727) under the guise to pay for training or facilitation fees. The fraud exercises also used victims’ contact lists to make friends and relatives.

Seven Gansky suspects have been arrested in connection with traffic.

The head of the Ghana Criminal Investigation Division (CID) Lydia Jaco Doncor said at a press briefing that the rescue operation was conducted in collaboration with Interpol and Nigerian law enforcement agencies.

The victims were rescued from different states in Nigeria between May 19 and June 27 this year, and are yet to be repatriated to reunite with their families in Ghana.

The CID chief warned families to check lucrative job offers and education opportunities abroad before taking them.

She said that once the victims were convinced of the fraud, they were usually instructed to travel on the way to an unfamiliar country.

Later, they are transferred to “camp holding” – hired rooms where up to 40 people are forced to live in non -standard conditions. Under pressure, they are forced to recruit others, deceiving even their own families and friends, said Gi Donkor.

“The psychological and economic harm caused to these victims and their families is detrimental,” she said, adding that in many cases the victims are “so malnourished and psychologically affected” that they cannot resume their normal life.

QNet, a global lifestyle and wellness marketing company, which is said to be related to the recruitment fraud, is forbidden to work in Ghana since 2022 for the alleged management of the Ponzi scheme.

The company has repeatedly refused any involvement in fraudulent activities.

The cases of people who are lured with false promises of work and entering the Internet fraud schemes are not uncommon in Ghana and Nigeria.

Police say they continue to arrest all those behind the fraud.