From Left: Mercy Kertson, Chief Supt Maame Yaa Tiwa Addo-Danquah, Director of Training at the CID of the Ghana Police Service, Albert Antwi-Boasiako and Jude Maison, Head of Clearing at Merchant Bank interacting after the opening ceremony.
Fifty representatives from various financial institutions are being trained to detect counterfeit and prevent fraud in a four-day programme in Accra.
The programme, organized by e-Crime, a company that works with Business & Financial Times, is expected to expose participants to fraud detection and prevention techniques, as well as safety measures.
The training, which started on Monday, is scheduled to end today.
Participants would be educated on emerging fraud schemes and prevention, social engineering, insider fraud and counter measures.
They are being educated on identity theft and imposter document examination, authentication services and best practices to prevent counterfeiting in the banking sector.
COP David Asante-Apeatu, Director General in charge of Research and ICT of the Ghana Police Service, speaking at the opening of the training programme, noted that fraudsters in recent times have improved counterfeiting which has increased the crime rate.
Such crimes include counterfeiting of currencies, cheques, business documents, utility bills, land title certificates and other security and legal documents.
The clone cheques, he pointed out, has also become a source of worry for operators in the banking industry, adding that cheque related fraud still persists in spite of the introduction of the electronic clearance system.
Mr Asante-Apeatu said fraudsters have used forged documents to open bank accounts for money laundering activities and other economic crimes.
“Fraudsters have been presenting forged identity documents to obtain credit and other financial services from banks,” he said, adding that counterfeit currencies are also in circulation despite the Bank of Ghana’s efforts to improve the security features of the local currency.
Albert Antwi-Boasiako, Founder and Consultant of e-Crime Bureau, disclosed that most of the crimes are perpetrated by insiders.
By Emelia Ennin-Abbey