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Cybercrime and socioeconomic realities: Perpetrators’ perspectives from Ghana

Nii Barnor Jonathan Barnor ; Eric Ansong ; Sheena Lovia Boateng (2025) — Journal of Economic Criminology

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DOI: 10.1016/j.jeconc.2025.100205 (opens in a new tab)

Country:   Ghana
Tags:   Credit Card Fraud, Cybercrime, E Commerce Fraud, Emotional Manipulation, Ghana, Offender Perspectives, Rational Choice Theory, Romance Scams
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Synopsis

            
This publication examines why and how individuals in Ghana engage in online romance fraud, focusing on perpetrators’ perspectives rather than victims or institutions. Grounded in Rational Choice Theory, it asks what strategies offenders use and how they decide to participate in these schemes. The authors present a qualitative case study, drawing on in-depth, semi-structured interviews with thirteen self-identified perpetrators (all men) collected between 2018 and 2023, aided by purposive and snowball sampling. Data were analyzed through Miles and Huberman’s transcendental realism approach, with coding and thematic interpretation guided by the Rational Choice framework. The study finds that Ghanaian romance fraudsters craft fake online personas and employ emotional manipulation to establish trust, then exploit victims for financial gain. Their activities are often part of a broader suite of cybercrimes, including credit card fraud, identity theft, and e-commerce fraud, with victims sometimes used as intermediaries or transit points for illicit goods and services. Economic incentives are central: respondents describe substantial monetary rewards, with reports of earnings that substantively alter personal and family circumstances, albeit accompanied by stress and risk. The perpetrators describe a multi-stage process, from initial contact and relationship-building to requests for money or the use of stolen payment methods, sometimes using live interactions and controlled personas to minimize suspicion. The authors discuss implications for policy and prevention, arguing for enhanced cybersecurity awareness, cross-sector collaboration among banks, platforms, and law enforcement, and attention to the socio-economic conditions that shape entry into such offenses. Limitations noted include the small, male-only, Ghana-centered sample and call for broader, cross-country research to explore how gender, platforms, and transnational links shape romance fraud strategies and outcomes. The piece contributes a grounded, inside-look at offender decision-making and tactics within a developing-country context.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
The paper identifies limited primary research with romance-fraud offenders, particularly in West Africa and developing-country contexts. Existing research largely relies on victims, platforms, law enforcement, or secondary data. It also identifies insufficient understanding of victim-offender relationship dynamics, the effects of romance fraud in West Africa, and the links between romance fraud and related crimes such as e-commerce and credit-card fraud.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
A qualitative case study in Ghana used purposive and snowball sampling, semi-structured open-ended interviews, participant observation, and document/artifact analysis. Data were collected from 2018 to 2023. Thirteen self-identified male cybercrime perpetrators were interviewed and observed; a four-person syndicate was selected as the focal case. Data were coded and analyzed using Miles and Huberman’s transcendental realism approach, guided by Rational Choice Theory.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
The study is a small, context-specific qualitative case study involving 13 self-identified male perpetrators in Ghana, including a focal four-member syndicate. Access to offenders was difficult, requiring purposive and snowball recruitment through an internet-cafe operator. Findings therefore provide detailed offender narratives but may not represent female offenders, perpetrators outside Ghana, or the full diversity of romance-fraud operations.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Conduct comparative studies across developing and developed regions; examine hybrid fraud models such as pig-butchering; investigate gendered dynamics of offender approaches and victim susceptibility; and use longitudinal research to track strategic adaptation to platform regulation, law enforcement, and victim awareness.

          

              

    
    

        
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