Mr. Edward Cudjoe, Director of Administration at the Economic and Organised Crime (EOCO), has disclosed that EOCO found a story of a nine-year-old boy engaging in romance fraud.
He made this worrying revelation during an interview with JoyNews on Friday, February 23, 2024, monitored by GhanaEducation.Org. His revelation became public knowledge during a discussion about the case involving Hajia4Real and the plans EOCO is putting in place to get people to report to EOCO to be asked questions about their unexplained wealth.
A boy found engaging in romance fraud -Details from EOCO
According to him, the nine-year-old was engaged in the act in an internet cafe, where he skillfully used a Google translator to translate messages from English to Spanish and send them to a white man in another country, and the boy pretended to be a lady all through the conversation.
This revelation by Mr. Cudjoe is a wake-up call for all parents whose children visit cafes in communities where these internet hubs still operate.
He added that since it had become an enterprise and the nine-year-old in the cafe was working for somebody who would take over the chat once the boy encountered a challenge he could not deal with in the romance scam.
Mr. Cudjoe furthered that the romance scam was not new in Ghana and that the criminal activity has become more sophisticated and an enterprise with several people in the chain once they get an individual they want to use their systems against.
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When asked why EOCO did not take proactive action to deal with Hajia4Real before her issue became an international embarrassment for Ghana, he stated that the jurisdiction within which the crime is committed determines which country can take up the story.
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Suspected unexplained wealth and EOCO’s lifestyle audit plans
EOCO has plans in place to successfully launch lifestyle audits that will target celebrities and individuals with suspected unexplained wealth in the country.
It added that it has a strategy that will be deployed by the outfit for the lifestyle auditing of “high-profile” influencers, celebrities, and individuals suspected of amassing wealth through dubious means. This initiative comes in the wake of a recent high-profile Hajia4Real romance fraud case.
In a related development, a team from the Federal Bureau of Investigations—Chicago Field Office (USA) paid a working visit to the Executive Director, COP MYT Addo-Danquah (Mrs.), and Management of EOCO on Tuesday, February 20, 2024.
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It has also started a project that will see EOCO visiting second-cycle schools in the country to educate them on all manner of crime and criminal activities to ensure students stay away from them. On February 23, 2024, a team from EOCO visited the Kwabenya Community SHS to discuss with the students some prohibited cyber activities.
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Hajia4Reall and Ghana’s Unexplained Wealth: Director of Administration, EOCO, Edward Cudjoe shares the story of a nine-year-old engaging in romance fraud. #UPfront pic.twitter.com/1Ztvhxutfc
— JoyNews (@JoyNewsOnTV) February 23, 2024