00:02hey Rachel and Fatou now what if I told you ladies that you probably might be
00:07under a hex right now you're thinking me hexed not possible but have you heard
00:14about the word Sakawa what does internet fraud and black magic have to do with
00:19each other if you're probably thinking nothing well sorry to break it to you but
00:24you're wrong Sakawa is portrayed on social media as a way for young people
00:29some of them to get out of poverty to get a better life and for the
00:34practitioners to be able to pop bottles in the club on one level it is internet
00:39fraud using fake profiles business and romance comes on another level it feeds
00:47off frustration with unemployment inequality and the sense that the
00:52system is stacked against young people
00:56scammers typically target people abroad using fake profiles emotional
01:01manipulation and deceptive office in a bid to extract money from them
01:14in many ways Sakawa is like cybercrime the main difference is the use of black magic
01:22some of the practitioners believe that that would help them increase the
01:26chances of scoring with their victims and it's probably worse than what I just
01:31demonstrated but there's no evidence that magic makes any difference
01:38this is the context in which Sakawa is often discussed many young people however
01:44are indifferent or at worst sympathetic to the practice their biggest question
01:49remains where are the jaws lately however law enforcement has been pushing back there
01:57has been long prison sentences and arrests of offenders in Ghana and other West
02:01African countries so perhaps it is time to ask what is driving young people into
02:07this practice and what needs to change to make it less attractive
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