Kenya: Don't Be Conned By Facebook Page Impersonating Kenyan First Lady and Offering Loans

15 June 2023
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Dancan Bwire

IN SHORT: Kenya's first lady Rachel Ruto does not have a Facebook account specifically dedicated to offering loans to the public. Ignore all posts that make these scam offers.

The Facebook page MAMA TAIFA SOFT claims it offers loans to Kenyans within five minutes.

It says the loans are from Inua Jamii, the Kenyan government programme that gives cash grants to poor and vulnerable people. "Inua Jamii" is Kiswahili for "uplift the community".

"Mama taifa" is a Kiswahili term meaning "first lady". The page also features a photo of Kenya's first lady, Rachel Ruto, in one of its campaigns.

One of the posts, dated 8 June 2023 and written in Kiswahili, reads: "Pata mkopo kwa dakika 5 pekee 5000 up 90,000 andika neno loan au mkopo."

It translates to: "Get a loan of between KSh5,000 to KSh90,000 within five minutes only. Write the word 'loan'."

Most of the posts get shared dozens of times and attract many comments from Facebook users.

But is the Facebook page and the loan offers legit? We checked.

Fake Facebook page and offers

While the page claims the loans are from the Inua Jamii programme, no such loans exist.

The programme does not issue loans. Instead, it gives out cash grants to the poor and vulnerable in the society. The programme has clarified this on its official Facebook page.

No such loan offers have been posted on the first lady's Facebook page, Mama Rachel Ruto, which is verified and has over 991,000 followers.

It is unlikely that the first lady would operate two Facebook accounts and dedicate the unverified one to loan offers.

The page's requests to have users engage privately by sending a message might be an attempt to scam people or steal their personal information.

The Facebook page and its loan offers are fake.

To help protect yourself against online scams, see Africa Check's 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

Tagged:
Copyright © 2023 Africa Check. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.

AllAfrica publishes around 400 reports a day from more than 100 news organizations and over 500 other institutions and individuals, representing a diversity of positions on every topic. We publish news and views ranging from vigorous opponents of governments to government publications and spokespersons. Publishers named above each report are responsible for their own content, which AllAfrica does not have the legal right to edit or correct.

Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica. To address comments or complaints, please Contact us.