Police and cyber security agencies in the United Arab Emirates, Russia, Mexico and Ghana issued simultaneous public alerts this week about a surge in digital fraud schemes, with victims in Ghana reporting losses exceeding GH¢3.4 million (approximately US$280,000) in the first six months of 2026. The warnings, released between 6 and 7 July, describe distinct but overlapping tactics: counterfeit consumer protection websites in Dubai, fraudulent loan applications in Mexico, a scheme involving the declaration of strangers’ money in Russia, and bogus online investment platforms in Ghana.

In Dubai, fraudsters create fake consumer protection portals that appear in search results. Victims who submit complaints are then telephoned by impostors posing as officials, who persuade them to install remote-access software. Once the victim logs into online banking, the criminals mirror the screen and drain accounts, according to Dubai Police’s Anti-Fraud Centre. The force urged residents to use only official channels and never share banking credentials.

Russia’s Interior Ministry warned of a scheme in which scammers, impersonating central bank or security service personnel, ask targets to collect a package containing cash and then ‘declare’ the funds. A screenshot released by the ministry shows a fraudster instructing a victim to take a backpack with 200,000 roubles, keep 5,000, and declare the rest—a ruse the ministry said would make the victim an unwitting accomplice to a crime. State organisations, it stressed, do not offer citizens freelance work or request assistance in ‘secret operations’.

In Mexico City, the cyber police unit of the Attorney General’s Office reported more than 5,800 complaints in January and February alone about ‘montadeudas’—loan apps that demand access to a user’s contacts, photos and location, then use that data to extort borrowers with threats and defamatory messages sent to family and friends. The apps operate without registration from financial regulators, and victims who pay are often subjected to further demands, the unit said.

Ghana’s Cyber Security Authority recorded 352 cases of online investment fraud in the first half of the year, with scammers posing as subsidiaries of international firms and promising high returns from cryptocurrency mining or digital trading. Once victims transfer money via mobile money, the platforms vanish. The authority listed several names recently used, including Darazz and Daily Trade, and urged the public to verify investment schemes with the central bank or securities regulator. All four agencies have called on the public to avoid downloading unknown software, use only official channels, and report suspicious contacts. Investigations are ongoing, and no arrests have been announced in connection with the alerts.