IN SHORT: Several Facebook accounts are impersonating International Breweries PLC, offering double returns on investments. But be warned, they may be out to scam you.
The Facebook account Princess Adaobi has repeatedly invited its 1,400 friends to double their money through the “International Breweries Investment Platform”.
“You Will Get Double Of The Amount You Paid to Invest As Interest Granted From THE Company In 3,Hrs Straight Into Your Bank Account To Help Nigeria Citizens Eradicate Poverty Privilegedly Agreed And Signed By (Peter Obi) Provided In The Registration Given To You On WhatsApp By His Admin,” reads one poorly written post, dated 19 January 2024.
The post encourages interested users to send a message via a WhatsApp link provided. It also features a photo of Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate in Nigeria’s 2023 general election, who appears to be encouraging users to invest in the platform.
Similar posts can be seen on Facebook here, here, and here. Some of the posts also feature a video of Obi seemingly endorsing the platform. But can they be trusted? We checked.
Signs of a scam
We contacted the Princess Adaobi account via WhatsApp, but the name registered to the account was “PST OLUWAFEMI EMMANUEL”, not “Princess Adaobi” or “International Breweries Investment Platform”. This was a red flag.
During our conversation, the account promised to double any amount of money we invested within 45 minutes. This was another red flag.
By including the video and photo of Obi, the Facebook posts implied that he had endorsed the investment platform. But we found that the video was a clip from a longer video of Obi speaking at the Lagos Business School alumni conference in November 2022.
In the original video, Obi was defending the Anambra state government investment in International Breweries PLC, made while he was the governor of the state. This was in response to the criticism by the current governor of Anambra state, Prof Chukwuma Soludo, that the current value of the investment was “worth next to nothing”.
The name International Breweries Investment Platform appears to have been deliberately chosen to mislead unsuspecting users into thinking they were dealing with International Breweries PLC, or a company affiliated with it, as the two names are almost identical.
International Breweries PLC produces alcoholic and other beverages that are distributed throughout Nigeria.
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