Mr Isaac Obour, a certified fraud examiner and President of the Anti-Fraud Initiative Ghana (AFIG), has stressed the need for strong political will to effectively combat fraud, describing it as a major threat to economic security and digital trust.
He said fraud had evolved beyond conventional financial crime into a systemic challenge affecting multiple sectors of the economy.
Mr Obour made the remarks at the Global Fraud Summit organised by INTERPOL and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Vienna, Austria, where stakeholders discussed strategies to address emerging fraud risks.
He noted that increasing digitalisation, including mobile money and e-commerce, had created new opportunities for fraudsters to exploit weaknesses in coordination and enforcement systems.
Mr Obour stressed that fragmented institutional responses were no longer effective and called for stronger collaboration among banks, telecommunications operators, regulators, and law enforcement agencies.
He proposed the establishment of a unified national fraud reporting system to enhance coordination and enable swift response to fraud cases.
Mr Obour emphasised that without decisive political commitment and coordinated institutional action, efforts to combat fraud would remain inadequate.
He urged governments and stakeholders to prioritise integrated approaches and sustained investment in fraud prevention systems to safeguard economies and protect citizens.