Kenya: Don't Be Conned By Facebook Account Impersonating Kenyan Journalist Couple and Posting Fake Promotions

13 April 2023
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Dancan Bwire

IN SHORT: We've been seeing many Kenyan Facebook accounts, fraudulently offering users cash under the guise of prominent Kenyans. Another account, this time pretending to belong to journalists Rashid Abdalla and Lulu Hassan, is yet another scam.

The Facebook account Rashidlulu Abdalla Citizen Cctv has been running promotions on three Facebook groups in Kenya with a joint membership of over 830,000 members.

The account combines the names of married Kenyan journalists Rashid Abdalla and Lulu Hassan into one. The two are prominent news anchors for the Kenyan channel Citizen TV.

A typical post on the page, dated 11 April 2023, reads: "Andika neno Moja la KINGEREZA lenye HERUFI "Tatu" ujishindie 35,000 CITIZEN promotion. KINGEREZA: PEKEE. Watu 161."

This mix of English and Kiswahili translates as: "Write one English word with three letters and win yourself KSh35,000 from a Citizen TV promotion. Use the English language only. We need 161 people."

Other posts in other groups ask users to identify the number of certain animals appearing as emojis to stand a chance of winning KSh35,000. The account's posts on these Facebook groups are regular.

They have been posted here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.

But is the Facebook account - and its offers - legit? We checked.

Signs Facebook account is fake

We checked Hassan's verified Instagram account, which has over 1.5 million followers, and could not find any promotions like these. Abdalla's verified Instagram account, which has over 696,000 followers, also does feature such promotions.

It's unlikely that the journalists would operate this Facebook account but not feature the promotions on their Instagram accounts with huge followings. It is also unlikely that the two would jointly run an unverified account specifically to offer promotions.

The account reaches out to those who comment on its posts and informs them that they have won the cash and should reach out through a WhatsApp number. But there is a catch. When Africa Check texted the number, we were asked to deposit KSh386 for "registration" before we could get the KSh35,000 "reward".

This is a clear indication that this is a scam account.

To help protect yourself against online fraudsters, 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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