Ghana's Cybercrime Losses Hit GH¢209.7m in Nine Months, Nearly Ten Times the 2025 Total

Accra. Ghana recorded GH¢209.7 million in financial losses linked to reported cybersecurity incidents between January and September 2026. That is far above the GH¢22.5 million recorded for the whole of 2025, according to the Cyber Security Authority (CSA).

The CSA presented the figures during National Cyber Security Awareness Month regional engagements at the Central Regional Coordinating Council. The losses are roughly nine times last year's full-year total. Incidents have already passed last year's count: 4,938 were recorded in nine months against 4,604 for all of 2025. Losses have therefore grown much faster than incident numbers.

Online fraud remains the leading category. It accounted for 48 per cent of cases from January to September 2026, against 47 per cent in 2025. Online blackmail made up 20 per cent of cases, up from 17 per cent. Cyberbullying rose from nine per cent of reported incidents in 2025 to 19 per cent.

The CSA also pointed to new threats. It named AI-generated deepfake scams, brand impersonation, organized scam centres, automated fraud schemes and child-related online safety violations as emerging risks.

The presenter cautioned that the reported cases might not reflect the full scale of the problem, because many victims do not report incidents to the appropriate authorities.

The figures fit the theme of this year's awareness month, which focuses on the digital finance ecosystem. At the September launch, CSA Director-General Divine Selase Agbeti said electronic fraud in the payment service provider sector was the most significant challenge. Incidents rose 54 per cent and the value at risk rose from GH¢19 million to GH¢37 million.

The jump is large against earlier data. The CSA reported losses of more than GH¢19 million for January to September 2025. The GH¢209.7 million figure is about eleven times that comparable period.

Mustapha Bature Sallama
Medical/Science communicator, Private Investigator, Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Analysis,United States Institute of Peace (USIP), [email protected] +233555275880

Sources
Graphic Online, "Ghana records GH¢209m in cybercrime losses in nine months": https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/ghana-news-ghana-records-ghc209m-in-cybercrime-losses-in-nine-months.html

GhanaWeb, "Ghana's cyber incidents surpass 2025 total with 4,938 cases in nine months": https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Ghana-s-cyber-incidents-surpass-2025-total-with-4-938-cases-in-nine-months-2056867

GNA, "Online fraud accounts for 47% of Ghana's cyber incidents": https://gna.org.gh/2026/09/online-fraud-accounts-for-47-of-ghanas-cyber-incidents-csa/

News Ghana / Modern Ghana (Jan–Sep 2025 baseline): https://www.newsghana.com.gh/ghana-loses-over-gh%C2%A219m-to-cybercrime-this-year/ and https://www.modernghana.com/news/1467172/cybercrime-in-ghana-a-growing-digital-threat.html