Be vigilant with electronic commerce-Tema Crime Officer

Tema,- Superintendent Kwabena Otuo Acheampong, Tema Regional Police Crime Officer has cautioned the public to be vigilant when buying goods online to avoid becoming victims of fraudsters.

He said online fraudulent activities was on the rise as deceptive online sellers lured ignorant and unsuspecting victims with attractive advertisement which offers low prices of goods making people fall into their traps.

“If you are in Tema, and you want to be a prospective car owner you have to be vigilant, there are a lot of swindlers online swindling people, you might see the car but you’ll never drive the car,” he added.

Supt. Otuo Acheampong was speaking on: “Role of stakeholders in combating crime within Tema Region,” at the seventh Ghana News Agency-Tema Regional Office monthly stakeholder engagement and workers’ appreciation seminar which is aimed at bringing together both state and none state actors together to address national issues.

He said “People are losing thousands of money, they went to some garages to check the prices of cars and compared it to the online prices, and because the online prices were cheaper, they decided to purchase that rather and they ended up being scammed”.

The Tema Regional Crime Officer said thorough and proper investigation needed to be done before purchasing a car and other items online to prevent being victims of fraud.

Supt. Otuo Acheampong however noted that the Regional Police Command had intensified surveillance and other security intelligent gathering aimed at crime prevention and enforcement of rules and regulations.

He urged the public to adopt the habit of reporting crimes to the police as it helped in policy formulation, crime prevention strategy, budgeting adding that, it helped to know the trend and patterns of crime as well.

Mr Francis Ameyibor, GNA Tema Regional Manager explained that the event also serves as a motivational mechanism to recognize the editorial contribution of reporters towards national development in general and growth and promotion of the Tema GNA as the industrial news hub.

He said the Agency’s Tema Regional Office had shaped itself as a vanguard for industrial communication and a catalyst for change to promote national development.

Mr Ameyibor said with Tema as an industrial nerve of the country, it was reasonable for the GNA to position itself to become the frontline of industrial communication to advance the country’s growth.

Therefore, he noted that the regional office of the Agency had developed systematic pillars, which pragmatic journalism hinged on; including; a mechanism to deepen the working relations with its stakeholders, to ensure that both the media and the corporate world worked towards national development.

Source: Ghana News Agency