Kenya: Ignore Scam Facebook Page Impersonating Governor of Kenya's Uasin Gishu County

18 January 2023
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Grace Gichuhi

IN SHORT: A Facebook page using county governor Jonathan Bii Chelilim's name offers low interest loans and free motorcycles. Don't fall for it.

A Facebook account with the name of Uasin Gishu county governor Jonathan Bii Chelilim is offering quick low-interest loans to Kenyans.

Uasin Gishu in western Kenya is about 300 kilometres from the capital of Nairobi.

One of the account's posts reads: "Congratulations Congratulations to all those Kenyans who have received our INUA JAMII CAPITAL LOANS today we are still offering loans, you can easily get a quick mpesa loan from as low as ksh 5,000-350,000 approved successful within 7 minutes with a low interest rate of 0.5% ... "

Inua Jamii is Kenya's government safety net aimed at helping poor and vulnerable people.

M-Pesa is a popular mobile money service offered by Safaricom, the country's largest telecoms firm.

The post tells users to "kindly DM or Whatsapp our loan trustee agent" and gives a phone number.

Other posts claim that the account has given new motorbikes to 20 Kenyans.

But is governor Bii really offering cheap loans and freebies?

Phishing scam

The account's misspelling of the governor's name - "Hon Johnathan Bii" - is a red flag.

Another is that it asks users to provide their personal details such as phone and national ID card numbers.

This is an attempt at phishing - stealing people's valuable personal information. Scammers can then use this information to take control of bank accounts and more.

We could not find any of the imposter account's posts on the politician's official Facebook page - "Governor Jonathan Bii Chelilim" - which has 55,000 followers.

The first post on the "Hon Johnathan Bii"' account appears to have been on 12 August 2022. The governor's official page has been active since 2 May 2019.

The authentic page shows the daily engagements of the governor. There is no mention of any loans or free motorbikes.

For more help identifying fraudsters on social media, read our guide to Facebook scams and how to spot them.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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