Exploring Fraud Awareness Campaign Strategies Of Fraud Prevention Organisations In Ghana: A Case Study Of The Economic And Organised Crime Office (EOCO)

Abstract

Financial fraud continues to inflict substantial economic losses and erode public trust in Ghana, exacerbated by low financial literacy, rapid digitalisation, and sophisticated scams such as Ponzi schemes and romance fraud, despite efforts by agencies like the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO) to combat it through awareness campaigns. This qualitative case study, guided by Excellence Theory (Grunig & Hunt, 1992), examined EOCO’s public relations strategies, stakeholders’ perceptions of their impact, and implementation challenges via semi-structured interviews with PR officers and a focus group with diverse stakeholders, analysed thematically (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Findings revealed strategies centred on mandate awareness, stakeholder collaboration, multichannel dissemination, and limited research use; perceptions of modest, reactive impact with indirect behavioural influence from arrests but constrained trust and visibility; and challenges including resource shortages, bureaucratic structures, and political/confidentiality barriers. The study concludes that EOCO’s practice remains operationally resilient yet strategically constrained and predominantly unidirectional, advocating enhanced research, decentralised authority, sustained funding, and participatory approaches to achieve symmetrical communication and more effective fraud prevention in Ghana’s heterogeneous context.