Obado: FB account giving loans in three minutes is fake

Governor Obado has challenged detectives to investigate the fake account and arrest the culprits.(Standard)

Migori Governor Okoth Obado has issued alert to members of the public on a fake Facebook account masquerading as him on social media.

Speaking to Standard Digital on phone, the governor said he only has one official Facebook page and he does not use it to give people loans.

 “A fake Facebook account purporting to give people loans has been opened with my name and photo by some unknown people. Please know that it is not mine,” he said.

Obado told Kenyans on social media to report to the police anyone purporting to offer easy loans or asking people’s details such as ID and phone numbers claiming to be the Migori governor.

The governor said he has already reported the matter to the police and soon the con will be arrested, adding that this was not the first time his name was being used in 'poof' social media accounts to fleece unsuspecting Kenyans.

“There was another pseudo account in my name, but they pulled it down and went underground after I notified detectives. I hope the police will this time round arrest the culprits,” he said.

Obado challenged detectives to investigate the accounts even if they are brought down like was the case in the past when he reported a similar fake account saying he has no guarantee that such account will not pop up again in the future.

“I have reported the case to the police in Migori and Nairobi. We want to see the culprits pursued and arrested.”

He warned Kenyans against transacting any business with the owners of the pseudo account saying they only want to con members of the public.

“It is bad for some people to use social media to steal from the public and it is even worse to use my name and photo- a whole governor in their con game,” added Obado.

The fake account that purports to give people loans in a record three minutes at a fee already has more than 1,300 Facebook friends. 

“GOOD OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL!Get unsecured EASYPAY LOAN of 10k-200k with interest rate of 0.001%pa.QUALIFICATION,(1)Pay ksh378 to 0714179981 {Mr.Abrose}Office secretary,(2)SMS LOAN AMOUNT,(3) ID NO,(4) COUNTY and wait for Only 3min your loan to be processed,” the latest post from the pseudo account read, attracting a total of 90 comments and reactions.

The fake account has the governor’s profile picture, except that it’s not a page and does not have a blue tick.

The account has been sending friend requests to people on Facebook to get many followers.