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Police probe syndicate using facebook details for fraud

30 July 2010 19:59 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The Ghana police is investigating circumstances surrounding the use of details of facebook users to defraud unsuspecting Ghanaians and foreign nationals, APA reports quoting news.xinhuanet.com website.

This followed the capture of two members of a syndicate that used personal information on facebook to indulge in immoral activities against users in the country.

Peter Agblor, director-general of police criminal investigations department (CID), told the media here on Friday that two women had been arrested by the police for using personal details of students to acquire United States visa.

"It is important that users of the website limit their personal information because criminals can use it against them," the CID boss said.

The police had mounted a search for the arrest of the leader of the syndicate who is on the run.

Some students were in May denied U.S. visa to pursue educational opportunities there because U.S. authorities said their personal details had been used by fraudsters believed to be part of the syndicate to acquire visa.

Facebook is a social network that allowed people to post detailed, personal information about themselves, from their date of birth to all the schools they went to, precisely the information that banks normally ask for as security questions.

Several reports of facebook users falling victim to fraudsters using their personal information to "empty" their accounts had become widespread in the Ghanaian media.