Exposing two Facebook pages offering bogus loans in the name of Kenyan governor Kimani Wamatangi

IN SHORT: These Facebook pages in the name of Kenyan governor Kimani Watamatangi are offering loans to Kenyans. But they are imposters and should not be trusted.

Kenyans on Facebook are being offered loans of up to KSh250,000 (about $1,917) by the HN Kimani Wamatangi and Kimani Wamatangii pages.

Both pages use the name of Kimani Wamatangi, the governor of Kenya's Kiambu county.

The pages also feature a photo of Dr Gideon Muriuki, the chief executive of the Co-operative Bank, as their profile picture.

They promise users instant access to loans and have asked them to apply via the WhatsApp number 0707901353.

The adverts have been reposted dozens of times on Facebook groups with thousands of members. Some users have flooded the comments section asking for loans of various amounts.

But are the loan offers legit? We checked.

Imposter pages

The ads are poorly punctuated, repeated and not linked to any website. These are signs of suspicious accounts. Legit business pages have unique, well-written adverts. They also have websites or apps where customers can transact and make enquiries.

The pages also rely on unbranded graphics to advertise the loans. Reputable financial institutions tend to have professionally designed graphics that use the company's logo and colours. This helps to identify them as legitimate businesses.

Wamatangi's official Facebook page was created on 13 February 2017 and has more than 96,000 followers. It features posts about his daily activities and whereabouts. It does not offer loans and publishes well-written messages with no obvious grammatical errors.

The fact that both pages use the same WhatsApp number in their ads is suspicious and suggests that they are run by the same person.

The pages are imposters and should be ignored.