The Chief Risk Officer of Stanbic Bank Ghana, Felicity Osafo Sampong, disclosed this at the Stanbic Bank/Graphic Business Breakfast Meeting held in Accra recently.

The event, which brought together regulators, banking executives, fintech leaders, telecommunications operators and security agencies, was held on the theme: “Shine Your Eyes: Combating Financial Fraud in Ghana through Collaboration and Innovation”.

Speaking during a panel discussion on the growing threat of financial crime, Mrs Osafo Sampong said financial institutions must continually adapt their risk management approaches to keep pace with increasingly sophisticated fraud schemes.

“Beyond awareness and education, we are investing in technologies such as AI-enabled transaction monitoring tools that can learn behavioural patterns, strengthen fraud detection, and help preserve customer trust,” she said.

According to her, fraudsters were constantly refining their tactics, making it imperative for banks to deploy tools capable of identifying unusual activities in real time before significant losses occur.

She explained that modern fraud detection systems were no longer limited to flagging isolated transactions but are increasingly able to analyse customer behaviour, recognise anomalies and trigger early intervention measures when suspicious patterns emerge.

Mrs Osafo Sampong noted that as digital banking channels continue to grow, financial institutions must balance convenience with security to ensure customers can transact confidently.
“The responsibility on financial institutions has become much greater because fraud today is more organised, more technology-driven and often cuts across multiple platforms,” she said.

She added that while technological investments were critical, customer vigilance remained a key component of any successful fraud prevention strategy.

“Fraud prevention cannot be left entirely to technology.

Customers must remain alert, ask questions and verify information before acting on requests involving their accounts or financial details,” she said.

Mrs Osafo Sampong stressed that awareness campaigns remained necessary because many fraud incidents would continue to originate from social engineering techniques, where criminals manipulated victims into voluntarily sharing confidential information.

She observed that criminals frequently exploited fear, urgency and trust to gain access to sensitive information, making public education just as important as technological safeguards.

The Chief Risk Officer further underscored the importance of collaboration among banks, telecommunications companies, fintech firms, regulators and law enforcement agencies.

According to her, fraud within the digital ecosystem often transcended institutional boundaries, requiring coordinated responses and timely information sharing among stakeholders.

“As institutions, we must continue to strengthen our systems, improve customer awareness and work closely with industry partners to stay ahead of emerging threats,” she said.