Beware of scam Facebook account 'Blessings Madiba Citizen' running bogus promotions in the name of Kenyan actor Blessing Lung'aho
IN SHORT: This Facebook account in the name of Kenyan actor Blessing Lung'aho has mastered the art of posting promotions on Facebook groups attracting hundreds of engagements. But the account is fake and its promotions are scams. Steer clear.
The Facebook account Blessings Madiba Citizen often posts promotions on Facebook groups and promises users thousands of Kenyan shillings in rewards.
The account uses the name and photos of Kenyan actor Blessing Lung'aho to run the promotions. Lung'aho played the characters Mejja in Kenya's TV drama series Maria and Madiba in another Kenyan drama series Zora. The shows aired on Citizen TV.
Typical posts from the account include simple queries and tasks that require little or no effort to answer or undertake. Each post is also accompanied by photos of famous people in Kenya, including politicians, musicians and comedians.
It compliments those who comment and asks them to get in touch on WhatsApp to claim their prizes.
The posts have been published by the account here and here.
But is the Facebook account and its offers legit? We checked.
Imposter Facebook account
The account promises users large amounts of cash just for responding to queries and tasks that require little or no effort - for example, typing a happy birthday message for a celebrity featured in the post. It promises up to KSh35,000 (about US$269) for this.
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It is unlikely that any politician, musician or comedian would be willing to spend such large amounts on countless strangers on Facebook.
When we checked the cover photo of the account, we saw that it features a photo of Kenyan musician Evance Ochieng, also known as Prince Indah. It is unlikely that any celebrity would opt to use a different person's photo instead of their own. This is another red flag.
Facebook allows public figures such as Lung'aho to verify their pages and profiles on the platform. These pages and profiles then have a "blue tick" verification badge.
The official Facebook page for Lung'aho is verified and has over 598,000 followers. No suspicious offers have been posted on the page. It is unlikely that the actor would operate two Facebook accounts and dedicate the unverified one to promotions.
The suspect account's request to have users engage privately over WhatsApp to claim their prize might be an attempt to scam them.
The account in the actor's name and its promotions are fake.
To protect yourself against scams, see our guide to Facebook scams and how to spot them.
