In a stuffed internet cafe in a commercial city to the west of Accra, we find teen guys and men in front of every monitor, signed in on internet dating sites under names like Jessica, Mary and Jennifer.
The youngsters, recognized in Ghana as ‘cafe guys’ or ‘browsers’, are looking for old and elderly males in the usa, Australia and Canada, and luring them to chat on the internet Hangouts.
Mohamed, 19, try exchanging communications online with a grey-haired man around australia.
«we simply appear here, we simply acquire some funds from the white mans receive some ingredients for eating,» he said.
«many can provide you with $US2,000, maybe you tell him you want $US5,000 or 5,000 weight or $5,000 Australian.»
«Wanna play today? I am horny,» the Australian man produces to your. «spouse was belated room today, i am here waiting for you.»
«He desires play movie cam with me to complete enjoyable, gender things as well as other affairs,» Mohamed informs Four sides.
«He demonstrates myself themselves nude, complete nude. And I will guarantee to make your pleased, like he can adore me.»
Mohamed says to Four Corners he’s got already been achieving this since he was 16 to produce an income, or sometimes in order to build credit score rating for their cell.
«Hi babe, just got residence and now have topped you up with 90 cedis ($24),» the Australian writes. «that will cover for people to play once more as well. cant await you to definitely seriously line.»
Each time they «play», Mohamed informs their objectives their web cam try broken and alternatively sends clips of the lady the guy claims to feel.
The Australian people is sending webcam products to Ghana so they can eventually see and discover her live.
«Did you have the mic I sent?» the Australian writes. «not much more playing myself a video clip. I thought we had been at the beginning of something overall.»
It’s time for Mohamed to track down a brand new clients http://www.datingmentor.org/nebraska-lincoln-dating/.
Ghana has a lot more devices than visitors. With high childhood jobless and cheap internet, online fraudulence try booming.
«It’s common,» says Ghana authorities cybercrime device manager Dr Herbert Gustav Yankson. «It really is profitable, low-risk and it’s really increasing every day.»
Advertisers is capitalising regarding scam markets.
At a shrine in the borders of Accra, businesswoman and celebrity fetish priestess Nana Agradaa casts spells for her clients to assist them make money.
Nana Agradaa requires 100 cedis ($26) a period from cafe men to supply them the energy to govern her victims.
We enjoy as Nana Agraada invokes the woman spirits facing a wooden idol, sealed in photographs of westerners which were delivered to her by cafe men.
She chants, spits schnapps and pours talcum powder on her behalf idols, as she shows one of the lady most widely used incantations with an associate.
«He introduced some white individuals to me,» she mentioned.
«The child wishes them to submit him some amount because he has been requesting cash nonetheless they have-not paid the income.
«So I promote him some detergent commit and rehearse, then when he’s deploying it to bath, he’ll say something that the guy wants the white woman or even the white man to accomplish for your.»
Superstition runs strong in Ghana and many feel scammers depend on juju, or miracle.
«I hear that there surely is some spiritual abilities that they use,» said Dr Yankson, from Ghana Police.
«often I’m inclined to think very, my friend.»
Cafe boys like Mohamed, Kweiku and Skidoo would be the bottom part feeders in an international enterprise which includes distributed from nearby Nigeria.
«those that enjoy this since the perpetrators — a lot of them are unemployed,» Abu Issah, behaving head of prosecutions at Ghana’s Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), informed Four Corners.