Yes there was a fake and functional US embassy in Ghanaian capital Accra for a decade until it was shut down by investigators. The fake embassy was setup in a two storied building with corrugated iron roof. An American flag was flown outside and there was a portrait of US president Barack Obama. Criminals of different nationals were involved, Turkish citizens spoke in English and pretended to be embassy officials from US; Dutch citizens posed as consular officials.
According to US state department this fake embassy issued illegally obtained authentic visas. The embassy charged 6,000 USD per person for visa and other identification documents including birth certificates. It’s not clear how they managed authentic visas and how many people reached US using visa from the fake embassy.
Investigators also uncovered a fake Dutch embassy there.
What are you thinking? It may happen when US embassy isn’t there, so US state department should launch an embassy immediately. But sorry to say, there is already a genuine US embassy in Ghanaian capital Accra. It’s in heavily secured cantonment area of the capital where queue for visa appointment is a common scenario.
On the other hand the fake embassy advertised on billboards instead of walk-in appointments. They collected clients from across West Africa and arranged accommodation nearby.
So if you are in a third world country , before going to US embassy at first make sure that’s not fake!
