IN SHORT: This account is running promotions and promising large amounts of money on Facebook groups in Kenya. But be warned, it’s fake and misusing the name of a Citizen TV journalist.
“Akuna jina ya Boy inaanza na herufi ‘E’ apart from Edwin na Edward, prove me wrong ujishindie ksh.20,000 sasa hivi From CITIZEN TV,” reads a Facebook post, appearing on dozens of groups with thousands of members in Kenya.
This mix of English and Kiswahili translates to: “There is no name of a boy that starts with the letter ‘E’ apart from Edwin and Edward, prove me wrong and win yourself KSh20,000 now From CITIZEN TV.”
This is just one of many suspicious promotions run by the account Chemutai Goin Citizen and flagged by Facebook as potentially false.
The account uses the name and photos of prominent Kenyan Citizen TV news reporter Chemutai Goin.
It often posts simple queries that can be answered easily and promises huge cash rewards in return.
The posts have attracted hundreds of engagements with many users trying their luck.
But is the Facebook account and its offers to be trusted? We checked.
Fake account and offers
Africa Check went through most of the account’s posts. We noted that they were poorly written; they often had randomly capitalised words and letters, odd punctuations, and a careless mix of English and Kiswahili. This is a red flag.
The posts appear multiple times in different groups and each promises thousands of shillings in cash as rewards. It is highly unlikely that Goin would give so much money to strangers on social media.
We checked Citizen TV’s Facebook and Twitter accounts and found none of the promotions, despite the fake account saying they are from the channel.
Africa Check has debunked similar accounts running bogus promotions in the journalist's name.
Goin told Africa Check that her official Facebook account is Jane Chemutai G and that all the others going by her name are fake.
To help protect yourself against online fraudsters, read our guide to Facebook scams and how to spot them.
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