Segment: Hunger & Desperation - Why Young Ghanaians Choose Internet Fraud Over Slow Success

Summary

---

Konnected Minds Podcast

Host: Derrick Abaitey
Episode Segment: Hunger & Desperation – Why Young Ghanaians Choose Internet Fraud Over Slow Success
Date: February 8, 2026

---

Episode Overview

This segment of the Konnected Minds Podcast delves into the complex reasons why many young Ghanaians are turning to internet fraud, commonly known as "sakawa," rather than pursuing traditional, legal paths to success. Host Derrick Abaitey facilitates a thought-provoking discussion with two guests, examining the interplay between social and economic pressures, the allure of quick wealth, societal programming, and the consequences faced by those making such choices. The conversation is raw, honest, and unfiltered, reflecting on personal experiences and broader societal patterns affecting Ghana’s youth.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Early Exposure and Social Conditioning

• When does indoctrination begin?
  • The guests discuss how exposure to internet fraud starts as early as senior high school, driven by what young people see in their environment and on social media.
    • “A lot of this Internet scam thing... it comes from what you see around you and what you want to become. Social media has raised expectations of our life generally across our board.” – B [01:26]
• Societal Pressure:
  • Parents, teachers, and society often fail to provide alternatives or encouragement, leading some to believe that illegal means are a shortcut to success.

2. The Role of Social Media and Unrealistic Expectations

• Unattainable Lifestyles:
  • Social media showcases lavish lifestyles, which sets unrealistic benchmarks for youth who lack traditional opportunities.
    • “Almost every kid now will probably say they will become a billionaire, but in reality, that’s not what will happen…” – B [01:44]
• Peer Influence:
  • Witnessing peers acquire wealth through ‘shortcuts’ can override moral reservations.

3. Skills Acquisition: ‘Godfathers’ and Underground Networks

• Learning the Craft:
  • Most newcomers are introduced and taught by peers or more experienced individuals (so-called “godfathers”).
    • “They learn from the people who are already into it... So like what they see in the media, they see their age mates living this lavish life, and they want to know how.” – C [02:14]
• Motivations:
  • Even those who feel it’s wrong may rationalize with thoughts about using the money for good once acquired.

4. Understanding Consequences and Morality

• Detachment:
  • Many fail to fully grasp the harm being done due to the faceless nature of online scams.
    • “When you’re scamming someone outside... you are literally talking to a machine. You don’t internalize that there’s a human being who has built 80 years of their life building this wealth.” – B [03:42]
• Lack of Moral Checks:
  • For some, there’s no internal or external moral compass; for others, guilt and self-reflection can turn them away from fraud.

5. Poverty, Hunger, and Desperation

• Root Causes:
  • Poverty and lack of basic needs create desperation, pushing youth into fraudulent activities.
    • "If you are rich in a poor community, you are not safe because the people there, hungry… when hunger comes too, there's desperation." – C [04:41]
• Justification:
  • Many rationalize their actions with excuses about survival or providing for family, even if they know it doesn’t justify the crime.

6. Limited Alternatives and Personal Choices

• Finding Your Path:
  • The discussion shifts to searching for personal talents/unique advantages as the basis for legal and fulfilling success.
    • “Everybody has things they are either interested in or things they have a unique advantage. Find what that is... work towards that and build that up.” – B [06:00-06:55]
• Personal Stories:
  • One guest shares how discovering his skill in public speaking and storytelling led to content creation and legitimate business.

7. Challenges in Self-Discovery

• Systemic Failures:
  • The educational system and societal attitudes often label underperformers as failures, crushing confidence and ambition, making them more susceptible to criminal paths.
    • "He was not good in class... Everything he does, they say he’s not good at it... These people are those ones prone to getting to this act, the scam." – C [07:41]
• Desire for Importance:
  • The “superiority complex” – some resort to fraud just to gain status and respect denied to them through other means.

8. Personal Accounts & Real-Life Examples

• First-Hand Observations:
  • C shares experiences of friends from school, noting that most of those labeled as failures have ended up as scammers, reinforcing the idea that societal neglect and negative reinforcement drive youth toward crime.
    • “After JHS... the last six, we called them big six... I say four of them are scammers.” – C [08:51]

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Social Media's Influence:
  "Unrealistic expectations that is being set by social media and you have these kids...who don’t know how to reach those expectations." – B [01:44]

• On The Psychology of Scamming:
  "You are literally talking to a machine. There’s a human there, but you’re talking to a machine. You don’t internalize that there’s a human being..." – B [03:42]

• On Justifying Fraud:
  "They will give a solid excuse: if I didn’t do this, mom would have died, my brother wouldn’t have..." – C [05:03]

• On Alternatives and Personal Growth:
  "Find the thing that you are interested in or that is your unique advantage... work towards that and build that up." – B [06:00-06:55]

• On Systemic Issues:
  "Since childhood... everything he does, they say he's not good at it... He feels like he can't do anything." – C [07:54]

• On Growing Up with Failure Labels:
  "These six guys... four of them are scammers... we didn't let them find something they are good at." – C [08:51]

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:40] – Societal programming and economic hopelessness
• [01:26] – When internet scams enter young people's consciousness
• [01:44] – Social media’s impact and raised expectations
• [02:14] – Skills transfer and ‘godfather’ influence
• [03:42] – Moral ambiguity and psychological distance
• [04:41] – Poverty, hunger, and desperation as motivators
• [05:44] – Personal paths and finding unique talents
• [07:41] – Systemic failures in education and their consequences
• [08:51] – Real-life outcome: former classmates and the lure of scamming

---

Conclusion

This episode of Konnected Minds offers a candid and multi-faceted discussion on why some young Ghanaians feel pushed into internet fraud. While poverty and desperation create fertile ground for these choices, social media’s unrealistic standards, peer influences, and systemic neglect exacerbate the problem. However, there’s hope in personal agency—by discovering and honing individual strengths, young people can carve out positive, fulfilling paths for themselves. The conversation is both a sobering reflection and a motivational call for alternative ways to achieve success and self-worth.

Transcript

[A]

You went to senior high school?

[B]

I did, of course.

[A]

Now as a, you know, young boys in senior high school.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

At which point do people start getting indoctrinated into things like Internet scams? Let me stop you here for a minute. So if it's your first time watching Connected Minds or you have been here before but still have not subscribed, do us a favor because majority of the people that watch our videos have not subscribed. This doesn't help us grow beyond what we expect. So help us by hitting the subscribe button. Thank you. Now let's get back to the conversation.

[C]

Yeah, so this, this is something I wanted to say. I think we, the societies actually programmed us in a way. As I was saying, the system is being made or people are made to think that you can actually make some amount of money using legal means or rightful ways. So, so I think they, as the conversation we're having, job is not there, everything is out. You can't do anything to make money. So they feel like that is the only thing they can go to at that point because at that point they feel like they don't have anything. And to start from the. The bottom, manifesting something is its own making. Something from nothing is something you never take for granted because from nothing, sometimes it might feel like it's a dream to even make something. It's just only illusion to make something out of that.

[A]

But when does it actually start? In the young boy's life? At which point in university, in the.

[B]

School journey, when they become conscious, what they see. Yeah. So a lot of this, this Internet scam thing I think is it comes from obviously what you see around you and what you want to become. So social media, we dump on social media a lot. But that's the truth.

[C]

That's what it's coming.

[B]

Social media has raised expectations of our life generally across our board. Almost every kid now will probably say they will become a billionaire, but in reality that's not what will happen. But so you have these unrealistic expectations that is being set by social media and you have these kids or these young boys who don't know how to reach those unrealistic expectations. But they do have them.

[A]

Yeah, but where do they get the skills from?

[B]

The skills?

[A]

Yes, the skill to actually start speaking to people and do all this funny stuff. Where do they actually get a skill from?

[C]

They learn from the, the people who are already into it. You see, mostly they start. That's when this theme came about. Godfather. My godfather. Oh yeah, my Godfather. So like what they see on the media they see, let's say I'm 18 years or I'm 19 years and then I see my colleague same like around 18, 19, 20, buy a Benz, living this, this life, the, the musicians outside. Because to be honest, the lifestyle of these people into these things, they take it from the outsiders. So if I see my colleague, my age mates living this lavish life, I feel like I want to do something. So you, you, you try to get close to understand for him to show you people who knows about this thing to also teach you. I nearly got into this thing. So yeah, I nearly got it because at that point I want to make money. I want to be something 100. I feel like it's wrong, but I feel like if I make this money I can give it a bird bath and then maybe clean it and because I can invest in other business stuff.

[A]

But at that time, did you understand the consequences of the actions that you.

[C]

Were exactly wanted to take? Aha. So at that point you wouldn't even think of the consequences.

[B]

I see, yeah.

[C]

So, so it's happened. So I think me, I grew up and I realized, man, all these things are not going to be, it's not my path. It's not, it's not what I, I, I, I can be because how can I sit, or let's say if I become somebody that everybody knows, how can I talk about the good stuff when I know where I'm coming from? Understand the guilt.

[B]

And I also think like about this, like whether they feel guilt or not, it's moral standards. Who is teaching these kids what to do and what not to do? And for a lot of people who get into these Internet scams, those moral things don't exist. In my opinion. They don't exist. Even if they do, Mr. Derek, even if they do, when you're scamming someone outside where you don't see their face, you don't know who they are. You're just talking to a machine. You are literally talking to a machine. There's a human there, but you're talking to a machine. You don't internalize that there's a human being who has built 80 years of their life building this wealth. You don't internalize it because you don't actually physically interact. For these people who do these Internet scams, they would most likely not be able to pull it off in person because then you see the consequences of your actions.

[A]

Right.

[B]

The Internet blocks that you are talking to, you are talking to an avatar.

[A]

But I also think what we are saying goes beyond just scamming Westerners.

[C]

Yeah. Here, here. So for me, I think. I think it's basically hunger because they say if, if Mr. Derek, you are you, you have food, or let's say if you are rich in a poor community, you are not safe because the people, the people, the people there. Hungry.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And doing it. And when hunger comes to, there's desperation.

[B]

Poverty is a problem.

[C]

They will do anything to, to, to. To find air and breathe. Yeah, I mean, they, they are being stressed, they are pressured. So I think this is where they, they, they will do anything because right now they will give excuses, it doesn't justify the action, but then they will give a solid excuse like if I didn't do this, mom would have died, my brother wouldn't have.

[B]

And in their context, like, I never judged them because in their context, if I was the exact same person as them or if I were put in their environment, raised up the way they were, I'll do it. I'm not now. I won't because I'm the way I am. I didn't live the way they lived, but if I was in their environment, if I lived the way they lived.

[A]

Look, I think the question really is what other options do young boys have? What other options? So, and you, the two of you are showing us different options.

[B]

Right? Right.

[A]

So what is.

[C]

What option did you take?

[B]

Yes, so for me, I decided to. So I think. So let's, let's, let's set something as a foundation. Yeah. I think everybody has things they are either interested in or things they have a unique advantage. Yes. Right. So what that means is that there are some people who were born naturally with a good voice, they can sing. There are some people who can speak in public. They are courageous, they can speak in public. There are some people who can do things with their hands. There are some people who can take good photos, who have a good artistic eye. My mind thinking is that every young person has some version of this. Even if they don't, there's something they are to some extent interested in that they can hone and get a skill in and whatever that is for you, work towards that and build that up. And so for me, because of the way I was brought up, a unique advantage I have or I had was that I could speak and I could speak in public and I could easily speak in front of camera. And so because of that, I decided to go into content creation and talk about stuff that I'm interested in, so speaking, but also things I'm interested in, which at the Time was tech, now is storytelling, now is marketing. All these things. So I used my unique advantage and told my story online, told my did my stuff online. And then I've been able to build to some extent a business. And so for every young person, I think the first thing is find the thing that you are interested in or find a thing that is your unique advantage.

[C]

Look, I love.

[A]

But you are 19 years. You are speaking to people who probably 16, 17, from 16 all the way to 19, give or take 25.

[C]

How do they find that thing? How do they.

[A]

What The. The process to discovery.

[B]

That is a. That is a. That's a good question. Do you want to talk? Yes.

[C]

I wanted to say I think our school basic education play a role in this. Okay. I have a friend, he was not good in class. So from since primary this guy has been all in tag with Bondi.

[B]

What does that mean?

[C]

You know nothing. Like you can't be anybody. So this person has been always. Your head died. So they've always been killing the spirit of this person. So he feels like he can't do anything. So after school, as you were saying, you're supposed to find something, but there's nothing. Because since childhood, everything, everything he does, they say he's not good at it. So what. What can he do? He can't do anything. Feel like he can't do anything. And these people are those ones prone to getting to this act, the scam act and all that. Because there's nothing for.

[B]

They feel like there's nothing down the system down.

[C]

They can't do anything.

[A]

Look, there's a book that talks about the superiority complex, the desire to feel important.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because everybody speaks down on you. And now all of a sudden the path they know well, you don't know it. So you find your way.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And make the money.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

So that they can start seeing you as great.

[B]

And that could go two ways. You could either do. You could turn that turn. They are beating you down.

[C]

You're beating.

[B]

You can turn that into good fool and do something great. Yeah. Or you can go to the other side.

[A]

But.

[C]

And if you look at it, I have a personal experience. I have friends that in primary. So like after jhs, those that they kept on, we had, we called them big six. They were the last six. So we call them big six. These six guys, I say four of them are scammers.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And then two of them are that other two, I can't tell what they do though. But then they have money. I don't know how. But they claim they are selling some stuff. Do you understand? So these people are those ones we, we, we didn't let them find something they are, they are good at to put it there. So if they feel like there's a chance they can use to make money, to feel important, why not take Connected Minds podcast?