Police nab two in elaborate TikTok car scam that milked buyer of over GH¢100,000
Officers from the Central East Regional Police have apprehended two individuals suspected of orchestrating a sophisticated scheme to defraud unsuspecting buyers through a fake online vehicle marketplace, netting a single victim more than GH¢100,000 in the process.
The pair — Chidubem Oba Precious, 31, and Ama Mankye, 28 — were taken into custody on June 12, 2026, after a complaint was registered at the Kasoa District Police Command setting in motion an investigation that would ultimately crack the ring.
The scheme operated through TikTok, where promotional posts advertised a Jetour hybrid vehicle supposedly on sale for US$8,800. The seller identified themselves as representing “Shipper China Qinghai Hongmeng Automobile Sale,” an entity designed to lend legitimacy to the fraudulent listing.
The victim, falling for the carefully constructed deception, made two separate cash transfers in December 2025 — first on the 9th and again on the 18th — depositing a combined sum of GH¢100,323 into bank accounts controlled by Mankye and a third suspect, Theresa Ziam. Upon completion of payment, the buyer received documentation purporting to be a bill of lading — paperwork that would later prove to be counterfeit.
The police investigation took detectives to Adawukwa near Bawjiase in the Central Region, where Chidubem Oba Precious was discovered and arrested.
A search of his premises yielded incriminating items: an ATM card and SIM card registered under Mankye’s name, plus a receipt tying him directly to the complainant’s transaction.
The trail led next to Accra’s Agbogba district, where Ama Mankye was apprehended. Police say she had deliberately established a bank account in her own name as a conduit through which fraudulent proceeds could flow from the victim to Chidubem — a service for which she allegedly pocketed GH¢1,000.
Both suspects were brought before the Ofaakor Circuit Court on June 15, 2026, where their cases proceeded differently. Chidubem was ordered remanded to police custody, while Mankye secured temporary release on bail set at GH¢70,000, conditional on producing a landed property surety.
They are scheduled to return to court on June 29, 2026.
A third co-conspirator, Theresa Ziam, remains at large, with police actively searching for her whereabouts.
The Central East Regional Police Command has broadcast an appeal to anyone who may have been victimised by these same perpetrators to come forward, either at their regional headquarters or at any local police station, to assist in broadening the scope of the investigation.
Law enforcement has also reaffirmed its determination to hunt down online fraudsters and ensure they face the full consequences of the law.
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