How to Avoid Being Recruited Into a Financial Scam: ASJ Practical Guide

For the average Ghanaian, the flood of investment opportunities can be overwhelming. WhatsApp groups promise 40% monthly returns. Facebook ads guarantee overnight wealth. A friend messages you about a “life-changing platform” that requires “just a small registration fee.” The pitches are polished, the pressure is intense, and the fear of missing out is real.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has documented that investment fraud cases increased dramatically in 2024, with 149 online fraud cases reported—nearly a three-fold increase from 2023—resulting in losses totalling GH¢1.99 million . In 2018 alone, 119,300 victims lost GH¢59.6 million to just four Ponzi schemes.

This ASJ guide provides a practical framework for identifying and avoiding financial scams. The principles are simple: verify before you trust, trust before you invest. The cost of verification is zero. The cost of not verifying can be everything.

Part 1: The Golden Rule — Verify Licensing Status

Before you invest a single cedi, verify that the entity offering the investment is licensed by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) . This is not optional—it is a legal requirement under the Securities Industry Act, 2016 (Act 929). Any entity operating without a licence is committing a criminal offence .

How to Verify in 5 Minutes

The SEC provides multiple channels for verification :

What to ask when you call:

• “Is [Company Name] licensed by the SEC?”

• “What type of licence do they hold?”

• “Is the licence currently valid and active?”

The Official SEC Lists

The SEC publishes lists of licensed entities. According to the SEC’s 2024 Annual Report, regulated entities include Broker-Dealers, Issuing Houses, Fund Managers, Investment Advisers, and Mutual Funds .

Licensed entities include:

If the company claiming to offer you an investment opportunity is not on the SEC’s licensed list—or cannot produce a valid SEC licence number when asked—do not invest .

The Critical Distinction: Business Registration ≠ SEC Licence

A company may present its business registration certificate from the Registrar-General’s Department as evidence of legitimacy. This is misleading . Business registration is required for any legal business but does not authorise capital market activities. Only an SEC licence permits a company to offer investment products to the public.

Likewise, registration with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) is NOT equivalent to SEC licensing. An entity can be registered with the GIPC while being completely unlicensed to offer investment products .

Part 2: The 7 Red Flags of Investment Fraud

The SEC has identified specific characteristics of fraudulent schemes. If you encounter any of these, walk away .

Red Flag 1: Unlicensed Operation

The entity cannot provide a valid SEC licence number when asked. They claim to offer “investment opportunities” but are not registered with the SEC.

The SEC has explicitly warned that “any investment activity promoted by an entity without a valid licence constitutes an unauthorised and illegal capital market activity” .

Red Flag 2: Unrealistically High Returns

Promises of returns significantly above market averages—often 10%, 20%, 40%, or even 70% per month. These implied annual returns (120% to 840%) are mathematically impossible to sustain.

The SEC has repeatedly warned that “unreasonably high rates of return or interest per month or year” are characteristic of pyramid and Ponzi schemes . The Attorney-General’s Office has documented schemes offering “VIP investment packages” ranging from GH¢770 to GH¢9,240, each promising progressively higher returns—all of which were fraudulent .

The golden rule: If it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is.

Red Flag 3: Guaranteed Returns / “No Risk” Language

Claims that returns are “guaranteed,” “risk-free,” or “insured.” Legitimate investments do not guarantee returns. The SEC has repeatedly warned that “proper disclosure on risk and ability to pay are not made by these entities” .

Red Flag 4: Vague Business Model

The entity cannot clearly explain how money is made. You hear terms like “trading,” “cryptocurrency,” “AI platform,” “Job 1 to Job 10,” or other buzzwords without specific details on revenue generation.

The SEC has documented schemes that required participants to undertake “vague and unspecified activities labelled ‘Job 1’ to ‘Job 10’ as a basis for earning income”—which the regulator dismissed as “a smokescreen for a fraudulent operation” .

Red Flag 5: Use of Public Figures Without Consent

Advertisements featuring photos, videos, or voiceovers of government officials, regulators, or business leaders in a way that suggests endorsement. The SEC has documented that fraudulent schemes “use the photos, videos, or names of well-known public figures… without their consent to create a false sense of credibility” .

Red Flag 6: Faceless Operation

The entity operates through anonymous social media accounts, unverifiable websites, or mobile applications. It does not provide a credible physical address, licence numbers, or contact people.

The SEC warns that fraudulent operations “often hide behind anonymous or unverifiable social media accounts, websites, or mobile applications” and “do not provide credible physical addresses, license numbers, or contact people, making it difficult to trace or hold them accountable” .

Red Flag 7: Pressure Tactics and “Limited Time” Offers

Claims of “limited time offers,” “exclusive access,” “act now before it’s too late,” or other pressure tactics designed to prevent you from conducting due diligence. Fraudsters rely on urgency to short-circuit rational decision-making .

Part 3: The Bank of Ghana Warning — Illegal Deposit-Taking

The Bank of Ghana has issued a specific warning about scammers pretending to be “foreign investors” promising high sums of money in return for deposits .

The Bank of Ghana states: “The invitation to members of the public to deposit monies with these ‘foreign investors’ amounts to deposit taking business under section 4 of the Banks and Specialized Deposit-Taking Institutions Act, 2016 (Act 930). Under section 4 of Act 930, only a body corporate licensed by the Bank of Ghana may carry out the business of deposit-taking” .

The Bank of Ghana has not licensed any entities or individuals engaged in such spurious “foreign investments.” Individuals or entities that engage in such unlawful practices will be penalised and required to refund all funds received, and will be liable to 500–100,000 administrative penalty units .

If someone promises you high returns for depositing money with them, verify with the Bank of Ghana whether they are licensed to take deposits.

Part 4: The Attorney-General’s Warning — The E-Commerce and Crypto Trap

The Attorney-General’s Office has documented a criminal network that defrauded Ghanaians through e-commerce websites and online investment schemes. The gang established a Ghanaian company in 2019 to serve as a front .

How the scheme worked:

EOCO was able to trace the criminal enterprise using advanced blockchain analytics software (Chain Analysis Reactor) and recovered $15,191,730.13 from offshore crypto wallets .

The lesson: If an “investment” requires you to purchase “VIP packages,” promises “fantastic earnings” from vague activities, encourages you to recruit others, or involves cryptocurrency payments you don’t understand—it is almost certainly a scam .

Part 5: The BoG Blacklist — Unlicensed Money Transfer Operators

The Bank of Ghana has identified ten unlicensed Money Transfer Organisations (MTOs) operating without regulatory approval. The BoG emphasised that these entities are “neither licensed nor authorised to operate within the country’s financial ecosystem” .

The unlicensed organisations blacklisted by the Bank of Ghana :

The BoG warned that unapproved MTOs “not only break the law but also undermine public trust and expose users to the risk of fraud, data misuse, or loss of funds” . All foreign exchange transfers to or from Ghana must be done through licensed operators.

What to do: Before using any money transfer service, verify its licensing status on the Bank of Ghana’s official website.

Part 6: Your Immediate Action Plan

Before You Invest — The Verification Checklist

If You Suspect a Scam — Reporting Channels

Contact the SEC :

• Toll-Free Line: 0800 100065

• Main Line: 0302 768970–2

• Email: [email protected]

• Website: sec.gov.gh

Contact the Bank of Ghana :

• Financial Stability Department: 030 266 5005; 059 691 2354; 050 150 2270

• Email: [email protected]

Contact the Ghana Police Service:

• Commercial Crime Unit (CCU): Reports directly to CID Headquarters for fraud cases 

Conclusion: Verify Before You Trust, Trust Before You Invest

The SEC has articulated a clear philosophy: “A well-informed investor is a well-protected investor” . This principle underscores the critical importance of public vigilance and education.

The tools are simple and free: the SEC’s toll-free line (0800 100065), the Bank of Ghana’s verification channels, and a healthy scepticism towards unsolicited offers.

The golden rules of scam prevention:

1. Verify licensing status before you invest — Call SEC toll-free 0800 100065

2. Be sceptical of high returns — If it sounds too good to be true, it is

3. Look for a physical address — Legitimate businesses have verifiable offices

4. Ignore fake endorsements — Scammers use AI deepfakes of the President and other officials

5. Report suspicious schemes — Contact SEC, BoG, or Police CCU immediately

The cost of verification is zero. The cost of not verifying has been, for thousands of Ghanaians across decades, everything.

Quick Reference: Scam Prevention Checklist

Last Updated on June 10, 2026 by Samuel Kwame Boadu

Samuel Kwame Boadu

Samuel Kwame Boadu is a Ghanaian media entrepreneur and storyteller with a passion for amplifying urban voices and uncovering everyday truths. He is the Editor-in-Chief and Founder of Accra Street Journal, a dynamic digital platform dedicated to capturing the pulse of Ghana’s capital—its people, culture, challenges, business, sports and innovations.

accrastreetjournal.com/