Kenyan actor Trisha Khalid not running promotions on Facebook, ignore scam offers on 'Trisha Khalid Citizen Gift' and 'Trisha Khalid Becky' accounts

The Facebook accounts Trisha Khalid Citizen Gift and Trisha Khalid Becky are running promotions on Facebook and promise to give away thousands of Kenyan shillings.

The accounts use the stage name and photos of popular Kenyan actor Fosi Mpole Hamis, also known as Trisha Khalid. She plays the character Trisha in the Kenyan drama series Becky. The show airs on Citizen TV, one of the country's most-watched channels.

The accounts post simple questions and tasks in Facebook groups and ask people to respond in order to win cash.

The tasks include identifying words in a letter puzzle, identifying an animal in a drawing and naming a local celebrity in a photo.

The accounts promise as much as KSh65,000 (about US$491) to users.

The promotions have also been posted here and here and have attracted hundreds of comments and likes.

But are they to be trusted? We checked.

Impostor accounts

Africa Check noted that the first account has only one post on its timeline. But it has been actively posting in various Facebook groups with thousands of followers. This is a sign that it is fake and its activities are fraudulent.

The second account has numerous posts about promotions allegedly from the United Nations Children's Fund, or Unicef. However, the organisation had previously told Africa Check that such promotions using its name were fake. The offers do not exist on Unicef's Kenyan Facebook page, which is verified.

It is also uncharacteristic of celebrities to give out so much money to strangers on Facebook.

We checked the actor's official Instagram account Trisha Khalid and found no such promotions.

The accounts are fake and their offers are scams.

Read our guide on how to spot Facebook scams here.