Many have been victims of internet fraud which is popularly called “Sakawa” in Ghana. Most of these victims are usually lured with lucrative business proposals and sometimes offered the chance to choose a lifetime partner.
Whilst some of the victims muster courage to report to the security agencies for investigations to be conducted, others also prefer keeping their nightmarish experience to themselves.
Read below the ordeal of one Linda Austin, who was duped by a pastor lover, Steve Charway in Accra.
I have a personal touching story which I would like the world to read. I came to Ghana in July this year to marry a man named Steve Charway. He was supposed to be a Pentecostal Pastor in Accra. After I arrived, I found out that he had been lying to me all along, so I suggested we postpone the planned marriage.
I came home, but decided to return and marry him because I truly loved him. I was in the process when one Sylvester James Mensah told me to get a plane ticket and come back to Ghana and Steve and I would be married there.
So I planned to arrive on Sept 17, 2013 but four days before I was to leave, Steve disappeared so I called the Uncle (James) and was told that he had traveled to Northern Ghana for a religious study and would be back in four weeks. James asked me to buy him and Steve a cell phone and send them to him with $50.00.
He called again to request for additional $800.00 to enable Steve pay for his tuition fess so he could obtain his supposed Diploma in Theology certificate, which I complied. In fact, I have in my custody receipts covering all these transactions and I am prepared to release them as and when it becomes necessary.
All of a sudden, James called me one fateful day to tell me Steve had left the North for overseas, but could not tell me which country specifically.
In actual fact, it turned out to be a massive scam and Steve Charway, am told, is with a British woman called Jane. I was robbed and could not report to the Police at the time so I would plead with you (Ghanaweb.com) to publish this article to alert the public of the operations of these hoodlums.
They need to be exposed, so no one else gets hurt by them.
Best Regards
Linda Austin