Naambia 
Naambia (Pseudonymized) is 24 years and the second born of his family. He has been in the business for 4 years. Naambia completed secondary school and has not been able to continue his education. Naambia occupies a middle position in the scamming industry. He has people he works under and those who work under him too. The interview was done in Getto where he always spend his free time with his friends. 
Naambia opinion on illegality and immorality
Naambia believes illegality to be something that is punishable by law and immorality to be something that is wrong in a person’s mind and in Islam. He added that sometimes something can be illegal and immoral at the same time. He postulated that those things that are both illegal and immoral don’t make illegality and immorality the same. He gave an example of speeding with a car to the hospital. According to him, when sending a patient to the hospital for emergent treatment, it is morally right to go beyond the speed limit but in the face of the law that is illegal. 
“Oh well, as you explain, for me, illegal and immoral are different.. Why did I say that? Because illegal is something that when you do it police will arrest you.. but for immoral, when you think deep inside yourself and you feel that something is wrong, then that thing is immoral. Example, if you feel inside you that killing is bad, then is immoral but if you feel inside you that killing is not bad, then it means killing is not immoral for you.. but generally, immoral things are already in the Qur’an and God made it possible for every human being to know them if they think deep.. but when you talk about illegal, we can call it the law immoral because that is what the law think is wrong even though it might not be wrong in your mind or Qur’an…:”
According to him, the law sometimes defiles human interest and the sense of morality. He gave an example of the time he had to pick some people on his car to the a funeral and he was stopped by the police of acting illegally. According to him, the capacity of his car was 4 people but he picked 6 people because they all needed to be present at the funeral and he couldn’t pick some people and leave others. Unfortunately, the police stopped him and fined him for overloading the car. He explained that the law at this instance was wrong because it was morally right to pick everyone so that nobody will feel discriminated. 
He also mentioned the case of car accident to exemplify the lapses of the law and illegality. According to him, his friend had an accident with his car and the police had to take money from him because of the accident. He exampled that the law was immoral at that instant. According him, his friend had an accident, lost his car, and got injured and the law could not sympathize with him, instead the law took money (Ghc1000.00) from him again. He explained the only thing his friend was fortunate about is his life. According to him, the law is not always useful and that illegal activities are set by the government to defraud people of their rights. He also mentioned that he didn’t see why the police should take money from somebody in trouble. According to him, the police acted immoral although the law asked them to take money from that regards, which he wasn’t sure whether the police acted according to the law. 
“This law is just rubbish and it’s not helping us. Some people are just using the law to make money and seating on our interest. Sometimes the government will say something is illegal because is benefiting the government. For instance, they can just arrest somebody because the person have coceine. They will take the cocaine and use it themselves. So this law is just useless.. this law sometimes is even immoral because sometimes it go against the Quran.. I mean how can you take money from somebody who has an accident because of law? It is wickedness to the highest level…”
Another important thing he added is the need to established justice in the face of the law and illegality. According to him, the law favours the rich and the powerful. He mentioned that, if rich or powerful person does something illegal, the person can go unpunished but a poor person or less powerful will always suffer the law even if his right in a situation. According to him, when a rich person does something wrong or illegal to a poor person, the law will favour the rich person and punished the poor person. He said that, the law respect and honor the rich and that the rich and powerful are always right in the face of the law. 
“For instance, this law, if you have money you can always go without arrest when you do something illegal.. Because you can just settle the police and go..Even if you are poor and rich people do something wrong or illegal to you and you go to the police station to support it, if you are not lucky the police will even arrest you on top because you don’t have money to give them…if we want to talk about the law, we will not finish because its useless…”
He added that the law enforcement agencies are themselves supporting things that are considered illegal. He gave an example of “client cases” (when a scammer steals from another scammer’s client) in the scamming industry.  According to him, scamming is illegal in the country and that conflicts that arise during the scamming process shouldn’t be tackled by police. However, police officers sometimes resolve client cases for a return. He explained that they (scammers) are all stealing from white people and that such cases shouldn’t be resolve by police. He gave an example of a time he reported another scammer to the police before that scammer hacked his dating account and took the money from his client. According to him, the police took money from him and arrested the scammer who hacked his dating account. He added that the hacker had to refund the money he took from his client before he was released from the police custody. 
“This guy hacked my account and talk to my client and claim the money my client was suppose to give me. I went to the police and reported the guy and told the police that I will pay them if they are able to force the guy and take the money for me. So I went and arrested the guy and told him to pay the money before they release him… the guy had to bring the money before they release him. I gave the police their share… I am telling you, they collected Ghc2300 from me. Even now, they call me sometimes to bring some deals to them..”
According to him, the police officers know scammers and always support them because they also give police officers money to supplement their salaries. He added that the police are suppose to enforce the law but they are helping scammers to operate. According to him the law is zero and cannot be used to control any illegal activities. According to him, if anybody has money or can do any illegal things that can benefit the police too, the person can do it without been punished. Finally, he mentioned that, the only law that is effective is the law that comes from God and that when a person go against the law of God, money cannot help such a person from being punished by God. 
“For me the only law is the law that come from Ghana…yes, the morality we talk about me..and what I think I shouldn’t.. but for this country, the law is zero. Complete zero”
Naambia perspective about following the law and morality and sakawa
Naambia believes that it is not necessary to follow the law, however, if you are poor and you are vulnerable to law enforcement agencies than you may follow. He also added that even a poor person is not always supposed to follow the law because the law can sometimes be violating the human interest and safety. He explained that when a poor person has a conflict with a rich person and the case goes to court or to the law enforcement agencies, whether or not the poor is right, the law will favour the rich person.  According to him, it is not necessary to follow the law all the time. However, he mentioned that if the law is something that a person thinks is good, then it’s important to follow the law. He gave an example of killing. According to him, even without the law killing in bad, so it’s good to follow such laws. He mentioned that if you access the law and it doesn’t correspond to what you believe to be good, then you shouldn’t respect such law. 
“For the law, it is not just important to follow it especially if you have money or know some politicians. But if you are poor and you don’t want to have any issues then its important to follow that law.. Even for me, I think poor people shouldn’t even care about the law but if the law and what they think is good are the same, then they should follow it.. the law is not just important at all..trust me.. it’s zero”
Meanwhile, he believes that the moral standards should be followed; however, also believes that it  is difficult to always follow the moral things because of social conditions. He mentioned the case of sakawa. According to him, even though they (scammers) know that scamming is immoral but because of poverty and lack of jobs, they cannot stop the scamming. 
“For the moral thing, I agree. Its very very good and we should follow it. For that one, you I can’t challenge it because if you challenge it, it means  I am challenging God. Whether you are rich or poor, you should try to follow the Quran teaching”
He explained that there are not any job opportunities and that even those with the jobs are paid very little. According him, without the scamming, a lot of people including non-scammers would have suffered. He mentioned that sometimes, people come to him to request money for their children’s school fees, hospital bills and many things. He opined that without scamming, they (scammers) cannot neither survive nor feed their families. He mentioned that some public sector employees such as basic school teachers, nurses, and police officers are into internet fraud because their salaries are very low and they can’t survive on such salaries.
“For this scam this, the reason is that there are no jobs that is why we are doing it. Even teachers, nurse, police are doing it because their salary is very small. Without this scam, we cannot survive…is not only we, the scammers, our families and some people in our areas are all depending on us.. example, some people in my area come to me to pay their children school fees. So for me, this scamming is good”
 He mentioned that he doesn’t understand why the law will make scamming illegal and yet the same law will not provide jobs for them to stop the scamming. According to him, scamming will become illegal if the government provide jobs for the youth. On the other hand, according to him, he believes that immoral activities are punishable by God and that God will forgive those who acted immoral out of frustrations or poor social conditions. Finally, he mentioned that he challenges the goodness of the law and that people shouldn’t care about the law; however, he holds that people should try to follow the moral codes if they can.
“For the immoral, I know this business is bad in the Qur’an and I cannot challenge the Quran but without this scam, mankind will suffer and die… yes, its not allow in the Quran because scamming is like stealing and stealing is haram in the Quran”..
Naambia also mentioned that the country is developing because of sakawa boys. He mentioned that some years ago it was rare to find good houses and roads especially in Tamale (city in northern region). According to him, scammers are building good houses and roads, buying cars, contributing to their families economic lives. According, scamming is good when is comes to supporting their economic lives. He also mentioned that these days religious leaders have stopped condemning sakawa boys because they (religious leaders) are benefiting from the scam). According to him, few years ago parents and religious leaders were condemning scamming but now they advise scammers to established legitimate businesses and desist from using magic during the scam. According to him, both religious leaders and parents have realized the benefits that comes with scamming and that is why they stopped condemning it. He added that scamming has brought about a lot of positive social change such as reducing arm rubbery and proper crimes. He believes that the government has also seen the positive impact of scam but just that the government cannot stop talking about it because the white people will criticize the government. 
“Everyone has seen the good side of the game, religious leaders, parents, even the government. Can you see that the religious leaders have stop talking about it? Because its benefitting them and they can’t talk again.. this religious leaders, most of their children are doing the scam and supporting them. So they can’t talk about it again..Even the government know that scamming has developed the country…you can see that, it has even reduce crimes like arm rubbery.. I swear, scam is good..”

 He noted that scamming is not good because of the moral implication. He mentioned that during scamming, they lie to white people and steal their money and that is immoral. However, he mention scamming is not illegal because scammers don’t harm the nation in anyway, instead it helps in developing the country. He added that using magical charms during scam makes it more immoral because his religion condemns the act of using magic. 
Dealing of the feeling of guilty
Naambia mentioned that the best way to deal with the feeling of immoral and guilt is to forget the consequences and focus on what to achieve from the scam. According to him, thinking about the immoral aspect of scamming is not healthy for their business. He mentioned that when he thinks about the negative consequences such as God’s punishment, it makes him not want to continue scamming but he cannot stop because stopping scam will endanger the lives of many people around him, including his siblings, parents, himself, and some neighbors who depend on him.
“As for the feeling, it’s not a problem, if you think about God’s punishment too much, you can’t do the scam. The best way is to try not to think about it and you will see that you will make it big. But if you think about the punishment, you can not continue this business… stopping this scamming will make people go hungry…for example, like me, I am the one look after my mother, father, and my junior brothers..you can imagine if I decide to stop, they will suffer”
Naambia relationship with his clients
According to him, it’s sometimes the case that he begins to like his clients after getting to know them very well but that doesn’t stop him from scamming them. According to him, scammers give their victims more happiness than their colleague white people can give them. He mentioned that most of their clients are lonely people and that they (scammers) give their clients companionship and take money. According to him, sometimes the clients knows that the relationship is a scam but still will continue with it because of the kind of conversation they had with scammers. According to him, most white people are lonely and unloved and so such people will enjoy paying scammers in exchange for feeling of love. He mentioned the case of a video that shows white women saying to the government “leave them to scam us, he love the scammers and we love that they scam us”. According to him, the main purpose of the business is to make money but feeling sympathy and love for the client is possible. 
“We are human being and its possible that your mind change about your client… Even sometimes you can just fall in love with your client….i am telling you, but you have to focus on the money because its business.. some of this white people know about the scam but they just enjoy the way we talk to them.. yes, some of them the kind of happiness we give them, the white colleagues don’t even give it to them… Some of the are even fat and nobody love them, so when you are chatting her, she’s happy even if she knows is a scam..”
  According to him, he met a client who confessed to him that, all her life, she has ever felt the kind of love she is getting from him. He said, this women could even skip her job in order to talk to him. He mentioned that he finally fell in love with her but he couldn’t stop scamming her because the aim is not to be in love but to get money. He mentioned that the reason he fell in love with the woman was that she was kind, understandable when they argue, buying him surprise gifts, and always try to get money for him. He mentioned that the woman wasn’t rich but was always ready to sacrifice for their relationship and that is why he loved her. According him, he wished it was real and not scam so he could have his love and money at the same time. 
“Omg, the money was very kind, understandable, and was buying gifts for me even if I don’t ask her to buy them. I love her but the business has to continue.. she wasn’t even rich but she was always trying to send me something or money.. Yes, I get it, people like that don’t deserve scam but we need the money and they need the love.. it’s a good deal for all of us..’
He mentioned that some people will make their clients to take loans for them but he doesn’t do that because he doesn’t want the client to be in trouble. According to him, although his aim is to get money, he prefers to take the little money his client can get for him to letting his clients to take loans for him. According to him, loans can put clients in trouble and that is not good. 
Who Naambia clients are
He mentioned that his clients are usually whitemen and women. He mentioned that, it is difficult to scam black Americans because they are usually not lonely and that they are also difficult to trust people online. According to him, white men and women can easily trust and that is why its not for them to scam the white. He mentioned that trying to scam a black is just a waste of time. According to him, the white men and women are those who bring themselves to scammers, explaining that they are usually on dating sites searching for men or women, and that, this expose them to scam. He mentioned that black people don’t usually use dating site. He also added that the white people are richer and scammers can get more money from them. According to him, the kind of money they (scammers) want, a black, whether abroad or in  Ghana cannot get such money for them. According to him, the reason he doesn’t scam Ghanaians or black is that they are also struggle to make money, they are greedy and will not give money to somebody they’ve never seen, and that Ghanaian somebody in your community or in Ghana is useful because the current doesn’t have any high value. According to him, he prefers scamming clients from USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, and other countries where the currency has value.  Meanwhile, he mentioned that when he gets a client and finds out that the client doesn’t have money, he will hold on to the client but not to scam such a client but to use the client for other purposes such as using clients as money mules, or credit card scam.
However, he mentioned that there are those who scamming Ghanaians and even their neighbors. According to him, those who scam Ghanaians and people they know are called Gaja boys. According to him, Gaja boys are damaging the reputation of sakawa boys because they scam local people, creating hatred for scammers. According to him, Gaja boys use both the internet, phone calls, and fake job post to scam people. 
They are called Gaja boys.. we don’t called them Gameboys,. They are even spoiling our name self. For them, they can’t even do scam, they can also scam people in the same country.. because they don’t have the format to scam the white people…

According to him, those in the Gaja business depend on magical powers because of the risky nature of their business. He mentioned that those in the Gaja business are bad people, arguing that they steal from their neighbors, poor or rich.  He mentioned that because there are no jobs in the country, the Gaja boys are using the unemployment situation to scam job seekers. According to him, people will start blaming scammers because they’ve been scam. According to him, the Gaja boys are making to think bad about scammers.