Unveiling Cybercrime in a Developing Country

Abstract

This article unveils the pervasiveness of cybercriminal activities in Ghana from the point of view of key stakeholders in the fight against the crime. From a critical realist's perspective, the authors employed a qualitative approach to understand cybercrime from the point of view of different key players—four cybercriminals, eight lawyers, eight bankers, six café operators and personnel from the cybercrime unit of the Ghana Police—for the study. Findings from the article pointed out that cybercrime has gained ground among Ghanaian youth between the ages of 12 and 35, mostly males with female decoys. The findings of the article also suggested lack of confidence in the Ghana Police service to crackdown on cybercriminal activities in Ghana. The research finally suggested that there seem to be the nonexistence of cybercrime policies and laws for lawyers to arraign or defend suspected criminals in Ghanaian courts of law.