The Ghana Association Savings and Loans Companies (GHASALCA ) is urging customers in the financial sector to report any form of wrongful deductions to help stakeholders and the regulator fight fraud in the system.

The call follows a recent publication by the Bank of Ghana which revealed that staff in the financial sector are the biggest culprits in fraud cases.

Speaking to Joy Business, the Executive Secretary of the Ghana Association Savings and Loans Companies, Tweneboah Kodua Boakye, said the incidence of fraud will reduce if customers pay attention to wrong withdrawals from their accounts no matter how small it is.

“The number one security in all these things is the customer. If you look at the Bank of Ghana report, you will realise that ATM and POS frauds were about 36%. If you look at it, it is more about the customer losing” he said.

According to him, a lot of financial customers have been victims through negligence by exposing their passwords and PIN codes.

“This is why we as an association have intensified education to customers not to give sensitive account information to anyone. We educate them and tell them not to give their passwords to even staff of financial institutions.”

“We think that the more we do customer education and sensitisation, there more we will reduce these fraudulent acts”, he proposed.

Mr. Tweneboah Kodua Boakye argued that even though staff in the financial sector were cited in the Bank of Ghana report to have been the worst culprits, customers can help nib the situation in the bud if customers report issues of fraud to the authorities.

“My recommendation is that let us pay attention to our bank transactions and bank statements. When you see a debit and you did not initiate such a transaction please take steps to report”, he stressed

 Mr. Tweneboah Kodua Boakye stated that reporting cases will serve as a deterrent to staff in the banking sector.