Artificial intelligence is now behind 55 percent of reported cybercrime cases on the African continent, while financial losses tied to these offences have more than doubled to $484 million since 2024, according to COP Lydia Yaako Donkor, Director-General of the Criminal Investigation Department.
She cited figures from Interpol’s 2026 African cyber threat assessment that underscore the rising volume and complexity of digital crime across the region. COP Donkor made the remarks on Tuesday, 1 September 2026, at the official launch of the 2026 National Cyber Security Awareness Month organised for the Ghana Police Service and the wider law-enforcement community.
She noted that offenders are increasingly combining artificial intelligence with cryptocurrency to scale their activities. Generative AI tools can now craft highly realistic phishing messages, clone human voices, generate fabricated images and videos, and automate tailored deception campaigns.
“Cybercrime is no longer merely isolated offending. It is increasingly an industrialised, borderless criminal ecosystem,” she stated.
Ghana’s fast-paced digital growth through mobile money, online banking, payment apps, e-commerce and instant transfers has brought clear benefits, she said, yet the same speed and ease are being exploited by criminals.
Law-enforcement bodies are now facing organised groups that deploy social engineering, stolen personal data, money-mule accounts, compromised devices, malicious links, sham businesses, cryptocurrency channels, bogus investment schemes and rapid movement of digital funds.
In response, the CID has broadened its application of technology in investigations. Digital evidence, she emphasised, has become essential in cases ranging from fraud and extortion to kidnapping, child exploitation and organised crime.
