IN SHORT: In these tough economic times, a loan with low interest might be welcomed by many. But this is yet another Facebook account impersonating a bank to offer fake loans to Nigerians.
The Facebook page Fcmb easy claims to offer loans to Nigerians. It uses the name of First City Monument Bank (FCMB), a financial services institution headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria.
The only post on the page reads: “FCMB Customers; Applying for premium Quick loan, personal loan and business loan with no documentations and collaterals from FCMB. Our loan service is Accessible to all FCMB customers, at an interest rate of just 1.3% monthly, Apply now using the sign up button.”
Similar posts can be found here, here and here.
But is this Facebook page and its offer legitimate? We checked.
Fake Facebook account
The post on the page is poorly written, which is uncharacteristic of a bank with a nationwide reach.
The bank’s official account is First City Monument Bank on Facebook. It has over 1.5 million followers and is verified by Meta. The bank also has a second Facebook page – FCMB Asset Management Limited – with more than 19,000 followers.
Meanwhile, the suspicious account only has four followers.
FCMB loans
The interest rate on loans offered by the Fcmb easy page is 1.3%, which is suspiciously low. We found no such offer on the official FCMB website. By comparison, their loans for small business owners have an interest rate of 9%.
In a tweet, the bank warned its customers about fraudsters and their various means of scamming people. "Always double-check to be sure you are receiving information from our verified accounts," it wrote.
FCMB has a dedicated webpage for loans and credit cards, and the webpage linked to by the impostor Facebook account should be disregarded.
Africa Check has reported several fake loan schemes on Facebook.
To help protect yourself and others against scams, see Africa Check’s guide to Facebook scams and how to spot them.
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