About
Background
In Ghana, on-line criminals are targeting men who have sex with men (MSMs). They aim to extort money through kidnapping, violence and use of Ghana’s archaic colonial law.
As homosexuality is illegal in Ghana, MSM’s have no protection under the law and reporting a crime can lead to the victim being criminalised.
Furthermore, the police often work with the criminals to extort money and therefore cannot be trusted.
fakers2go monitors and exposes these scammers.
The scams
If you look at the online dating sites, you will notice that many of the guys from Ghana claim to be as young as 18. Many of these people are not gay. The ones that are, may not be genuinely looking for what they claim. The pictures can be fake and their profiles may well be copied from other peoples.
The usual scam is to tell you a sad story and ask you to send money. For example, they may say they are orphans, could not finish their education or need money for hospital bills. These stories are usually not true. Ask yourself how these guys are able to pay to use the internet 24 hours a day.
The most dangerous scam is to persuade you to meet them to get you arrested, kidnapped or beaten up in an attempt to extort money from you.
If you are a foreigner, another scam would be a request for marriage in your country. It is very difficult to get visa’s for Ghanaians, particularly the ones you meet on the internet who are often young, unemployed and uneducated. Due to the economic situation, they are desperate to leave Ghana. We have heard stories of people who succeeded in getting their Ghanaian boyfriend to their country only to have them leave them for a woman.
The most recent scam is for the person to have a crisis at the airport. They could be on their way to visit you if you don’t live in Ghana. They may claim they were arrested for drugs, or gold, or some problem with their documents. They will then request a large amount of money to bribe officials.
Another recent scam is to request money to show immigration officials that they have enough to live on when entering another country. They will ask you for the money saying they will hand it back on arrival.
Be aware a sim card, which provides you with a new mobile number, are very cheap in Ghana. Phone numbers someone gives to you may not be their permanent number.
The scammers call their criminal activities a ‘game’. They convince themselves this is not a crime and that no real damage it being done. The popular films and music reinforce this idea that scamming is simply a game and nothing more. There is no morality to these people and they have no conscience. Empathy is a rare commodity.
Homosexuality in Ghana: The Legal and Cultural Situation
Homosexuality is illegal in Ghana which allows criminals to use the law as a ‘blackmailers charter’. Male homosexual activity is categorised under the old British colonial law instituted in the 19th Century:
Criminal Code 1960- Chapter 6, Sexual Offences Article 105:
Whoever is guilty of unnatural carnal knowledge- (a) of any person without his consent, is guilty of first degree felony;
(b) of any person with his consent, or of any animal, is guilty of a misdemeanour.
Like much of Africa, Ghana’s version of religion is fundamentalist. Homosexuality is seen as a sin and can be ’caused’ by possession of evil spirits. In this climate, rational discussion is impossible.
A recent hoax about about Ghana hosting an international conference of lesbian and gays created mass hysteria in the press and the population. Even the government were fooled and banned the fictional event.
Even so, the law is not often used to imprison people and because homosexuality is not often on people’s minds, MSM’s can move about fairly freely unless it is made public. It is normal in Ghana for men to hold hands, walk with arms around each other, sit on each others laps and dance together.
