The initiative will expose students to financial, economic, moral and other related offences associated with the use of the internet and the corresponding punishment for those involved in the menace.

Held on the topic “Prohibited cyber activities”, the programme will also use graphic images of young people who became addicted to cyber crime and occultism and the horrific consequences they suffered for engaging in internet fraud (popularly called Sakawa) and occultism.

So far, the sensitisation has been held in seven schools, which are the Wesley Grammar SHS, Accra Wesley Girls SHS, Accra Girls SHS, Accra Technical Training College, St Thomas Aquinas, Accra High School and Holy Trinity Cathedral SHS.

Other schools have been scheduled for next academic year when schools reopen in September 2017.

Perilous addition 

Addressing students at the Holy Trinity Cathedral SHS yesterday, the Head of Public Education of EOCO, Mrs Jacqueline Avotri, stated that the internet had brought the world closer, making it a smaller place for its users.

“Today, the internet is used for education purposes, exchange of ideas and materials among teachers and students, improving communications among people and warning people against natural disasters,” she stated.

Mrs Avotri, however, expressed worry at the rate at which a number of young people were being lured into cyber crime, making them extremely addicted to the menace at the peril of their lives.

According to her, many young people had resorted to watching pornographic materials, engaging in fraud and chat room conversations with unknown foreigners who taught them how to “have sex, commit suicide, abuse drugs, smoke and engage in other deviant behaviours.

“Now, many young people are consulting mallams, sacrificing their parents, with others being kidnapped, trafficked and murdered for their organs via social media,” she said, adding that others were also putting up expensive apartments regardless of how their families became stigmatised.  

Ignorance is no excuse

Mrs Avotri warned the students that there were laws that governed every activity on the internet and that those who would be caught would be made to face the law since ignorance was no excuse.

“The law frowns on cyber-related offences and whatever you do you can be trailed and arrested by law enforcement agencies. When you upload photos and materials and you delete them, they leave your mobile phones and laptops but they are stored at a place where the materials can be retrieved.

“These pieces of information can be used against you. What you do today will haunt you when you grow,” she stated.

Impact on businesses

Mrs Avotri further touched on the negative impact cyber crime was having on Ghanaian businesses on the international market as most business entities had become extremely vulnerable to hacking.

“Businesses have become victims of hacking as young people are able to hack into their systems, change their names and accounts to defraud their international partners; this has a major challenge for businesses and individuals who engage in online transactions.

“Besides, many companies in the Western world have blacklisted Ghana due to the activities of internet fraudsters, and this makes it difficult for businesses to transact legitimate business online with legally acquired credit or debit cards,” she added.

Mrs Avotri said the challenge also made it difficult for Ghanaian businesses to penetrate international markets with their products.