IN SHORT: This Facebook account offers quick loans in the name of M-Shwari, a mobile product that allows its customers to save and borrow money in Kenya. But the account is run by a known imposter and should be ignored.
The Facebook account M-shwari Loan claims to offer Kenyan Facebook users different kinds of loans, such as for rent, school fees and for settling hospital bills.
The account uses the name and logo of M-Shwari, a mobile product that allows customers to save and borrow money through their mobile phones. It was created through a partnership between M-Pesa, a mobile financial service by Kenya’s largest telecoms company Safaricom, and NCBA Bank.
In some of its posts, the account claims it can boost the borrowing limit for Kenya’s popular Fuliza overdraft service. This service by Safaricom allows M-Pesa mobile money users to complete a transaction even if they don’t have enough funds in their accounts.
Some of the offers that have attracted hundreds of engagements have been posted multiple times here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
But is the account and the offers legit? We checked.
Known imposter
We noted that the posts were poorly written with misspellings, odd punctuation and random capitalisation. This is usually a sign that they are not from a professional source.
The account’s timeline has two profile picture updates but no loan offers. An account with little to no activity on its timeline but actively posting on different Facebook groups is usually a sign that it is fake and its activities are fraudulent.
The account claims it can boost the borrowing limit for Fuliza. However, the company has clearly stated that customers can only increase their borrowing limit by transacting frequently on their M-Pesa accounts and repaying their loans on time.
We also discovered that the WhatsApp number provided by the account was previously used to run fraudulent activities by an account impersonating Mike Sonko, the former governor of Kenya’s Nairobi county. Africa Check debunked the account.
The account M-shwari Loan is fake and its offers are a scam. Read our guide on how to spot Facebook scams here.
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