Fact-check: Was a traditional wedding interrupted by a jealous ex-boyfriend in Juba?

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A reverse image search returned results of the same pictures first related to an event in Nigeria in February 2020.

Writer: Jibi Moses

A Facebook post by a page called Charliebrain.com claiming that a wedding in South Sudan was disrupted because the bride’s ex-boyfriend stormed the ceremony with thugs is false.

The post, which was published on November 18th, 2022, claimed that the ex-boyfriend was demanding the $5,000 he spent on his now ex-girlfriend.

“Just in: South Sudanese boyfriend arrives with thugs and disrupts the traditional marriage of his ex, claiming he wants a refund of all he spends on his ex, and everything sums up to $5000,” the post reads.

The page describes itself as a TV channel and has 135000 likes and 138 followers.

Is it true, however, that such an incident has recently been reported in South Sudan? Here’s what we discovered:

The screenshot of the claim as posted by the Charliebrian.com page.

A reverse image search using RevEye on the images returns results from Yandex and Google, indicating that several Nigerian bloggers first used these images in February 2020.

And an article was published by Face of Malawi with the heading Man Disrupts Ex-girlfriend’s Marriage, Demands for N22 million in Nigeria. Other similar articles include this, this, and this.

Besides, no credible media and bloggers have reported such an incident of wedding interruption in South Sudan recently.

Some of the screenshots from the search 

Conclusion:

211 Check finds this claim false. According to media reports, the images were first taken in Nigeria in February 2022, when a traditional wedding was interrupted by an ex-boyfriend, but not in Juba. 

This fact check was published by 211 Check with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and the African Fact-Checking Alliance.

Fact-check: Did Prof. PLO Lumumba advise Prof. John Akec of the University of Juba not to graduate everyone?

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Prof. Patrick  Lumumba didn’t advise the Vice Chancellor of the University of Juba not to graduate ‘everyone’. Also, the image of the two professors used in this context is an old one taken in October and posted by Prof. John Akec on his  Facebook page.

Writer: Ghai Aketch

A social media post attributing a quote to Prof. Patrick Lumumba on November 28, 2022, in an unconfirmed conversation with the University of Juba’s Vice Chancellor, Prof. John Akec, is false.

Prof. Patrick Lumumba is a Kenyan national well-known for his Pan-Africanism advocacy on the continent and a High Court of Kenya and Tanzania advocate. He is also the chairperson and founder of the PLO Lumumba Foundation.

The post claimed that Prof. Lumumba said: “Today’s graduates are the future of this country SSD🇸🇸💞, but if you graduate everyone in the country, we’ll still have the same leaders tomorrow like today’s.” This is false.

“Professor Lumumba tells Professor John Akech to stop graduating everyone in the school,” the false post was headlined by Jonglei TV, a Facebook page with over 34,000 followers.

              Screenshot of the post claiming Prof. Lumumba’s advice to Prof. John Akec

This information comes two days after the university graduated about 7,000 students on November 26, 2022.

However, Professor Lumumba was not in attendance. Our image search of Prof. Lumumba and Prof. Akec, accompanying the claim, found that the two professors posed for the photo on October 15, 2022, during the 10th Tana High-Level Forum as posted by Prof. Akec on his official Facebook page. 

                               Screenshot from Prof. John Akec’s official Facebook page

Moreover, our keyword and official page searches did not return any results about the claim. The image was, however, taken in Bahir Dar Ethiopia, during the 10th Tana High-Level Forum in October and not in Juba.

Interestingly, we discovered that PLO Lumumba’s verified Facebook, which has 945k followers, was allegedly hacked between the 18th and 20th of November, according to the verified PLO Lumumba Foundation page and thus, he is not in control of posting. 

Conclusion:

211 Check, therefore, concludes that this claim is false. Prof. Lumumba was not in Juba during the University of Juba graduation event on 26th November 2022.

This fact check was published by 211 Check with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and the African Fact-Checking Alliance. 

Fact-check: Total Energies Company is NOT hiring labour workers for 2023 via a viral WhatsApp link

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Writer: Ochaya Jackson

A widely circulated WhatsApp message claiming that Total Energies Oil and Gas Company is looking for skilled and unskilled labour workers with “good pay” is false.

TotalEnergies is a multi-energy company that produces and markets fuels, natural gas and electricity. Our 100,000 employees are committed to better energy that is more affordable, reliable, cleaner and accessible to as many people as possible. Active in more than 130 countries, its ambition is to become a responsible energy major.

The screenshot of the widely forwarded WhatsApp message

The application link attached to the WhatsApp message is a dangerous phishing mechanism, and here is why:

The link, which has been investigated by 211 Check, if once clicked, takes to a one-page form for filling in personal information and calls on applicants, regardless of nationality, to apply.

The screenshot of the application form

Once the application is filled, a pop-up message appears indicating that the application is in process and warns that the number of applicants is narrow.

The screenshot of the pop-up message

Continuing with the process brings on a page to validate the applicant’s name and fill in the current education status before sending the application.

The screenshot of the page

After validating and filling out the educational status, a congratulatory pop-up message appears with the assurance that one is qualified to serve in Total Energies Company. Still, it requires one to share with five groups or fifteen WhatsApp friends before a confirmation email detailing the successful application is sent.

The screenshot of the page

Websites Forensics

Total Energy has not advertised for the 2023 recruitment of both skilled or unskilled labor, and its website does not bear any ongoing recruitment process.

The whois information for the claim differs from the Total Energy company, the website domain was registered in January 2022, while the Total Energy website was in March 2014.

The whois screenshot of the claimed domain
The whois domain for Total Energy.

All social media accounts of Total Energy have yet to share information regarding the 2023 recruitment drive claim.

Conclusion:

The claim that Total Energy is currently recruiting skilled and unskilled labour for 2023 with reasonable salary payment through a WhatsApp link is false.

#FactsMatter, don’t be a victim of fake news; instead, let’s fight misinformation on both mainstream and alternative media. To avoid spreading false information, don’t share content you’re unsure about or know where it comes from.

To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/ or send us a WhatsApp message at +211 917 298 255 to present a claim, and our team will immediately fact-check it and respond.

Fact-check: Is World Investment Conpany a legitimate forex trader? No, it is fake

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Writer: Amule Alex 

The “World Investment Conpany” page on Facebook, which is currently running ads claiming that they are forex traders, is spreading false information.

Forex trading is the exchange of one currency for another for trading purposes. Forex traders (foreign exchange traders) anticipate changes in currency prices and take trading positions in currency pairs on the foreign exchange market to profit from a change in currency demand. They can execute trades for financial institutions on behalf of clients or as individual investors. 

In its ad, the company says it was founded with a vision to create a 100 per cent transparent digital trading experience for its clients. “We always had the idea that the investment industry was missing more broad-minded business…,” it partly says in this post.

At the end of the Facebook post on its page, readers are provided with a link to download the Telegram messaging app as well as instructions on how to talk to Aisha or join the company’s channel.

The first link will take you to a web page called “World Forex Traders,” and to make use of the services it provides, you will need to have a Telegram account. The second link should be used when you wish to speak with a woman named Rimi Aisha.

Here is a screenshot of their post on Facebook

Screenshots of the World Forex Traders & Aisha Rimi’s Channels

Because of the large number of forex traders operating in the modern market, including impostors, it is very challenging to differentiate between legitimate and illegitimate businesses.

In the case of “World Investment Conpany,” 211 Check conducts an investigation to determine whether or not the company is a genuine forex trader.

We started by asking Aisha about their company, and here is what she told us.

Screenshots of our engagement with Aisha

Screenshots of our engagement with Aisha

The red flags in this company:

The word company has a spelling mistake. Instead of company, they prefer to call their Facebook page “conpany.” This is very unusual for a company that values its reputation. 

Check the above screenshot

Following a Google search, three pages with the same post and all leading to the same link with the same logos and photos are returned. The difference is the time period in which the pages were created. On April 20, the “World Investment Company” was established, followed by the “Forex Trading Company” on October 1 and the “World Investment Conpany” on November 21. They appear to have been created by the same people.

Screenshots showing the transparency section of three different yet similar pages

Only mPesa is accepted for payment. Why not have multiple transaction methods?

When I asked Aisha how to pay, she told me to use mpesa, which is a service that lets both international and local merchants offer Africa’s most popular payment method as an option at online checkouts. She says that the money needs to be sent to her, and then she will put it in the bank for the person. The same thing happens when someone wants to withdraw.

This is not true of real online forex trading, as they are expected to have a website and more than one way to make transactions.

The company uses stock images on its Facebook page.

A reverse image search on the photo used as the cover of its Facebook page yields several results of the same image being used by various sites, including here, here, and here. Stock images are photos, illustrations, and icons that were created with no specific project in mind. They are then licenced to individuals or institutions, usually for a fee or free of charge.

Screenshot of the Facebook page’s cover photo

Conclusion:

The claim that “World Investment Company” is a legitimate forex trader is found to be false by 211 Check. The company does not have a website or flexible payment methods.

This fact-check was published as part of an assignment for the Empowering Fact-checking in South Sudan (EFiSS) Training Program by 211 Check.

Fact-check: Was Messi locked up in Saudi Arabia?  No, an old picture first used in 2012

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The photograph was taken in 2012, during Messi’s visit to Saudi Arabia, rather than during this year’s World Cup in Qatar.

Writer: Jibi Moses

A Facebook post published by a page named Football Xperts claiming that Lionel Messi was locked up in Saudi Arabia recently is false.

The post, published on the 23rd of November, 2022 was captioned, “Not the first time Saudi Arabia locked up Lionel Messi..#FIFAWorldCup #Messi #Qatar2022.” According to this description, Saudi Arabia had, at some time, locked up the footballer. However, there was no reason or other details about his arrest. 

The post was accompanied by a picture of Messi being surrounded by soldiers, presumably escorting him, with one of the soldier’s gun pointing at his chin. His reaction shows he’s scared. 

The post attracted over 66,000 reactions,  over 4,000 shares and over 900 comments, with people mainly commenting already being concerned over the life of Messi and his safety. 

The image that was attached to the post. 

211 Check conducted an image reverse search using InVID; the search yielded a large number of images from various sources, some in similar situations but not the exact image; however, we discovered that the image was used on Reddit, posted by u/gaping your mother. It was nine years ago. 

“Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi arrives in Saudi Arabia for a promotional event. His face is priceless as security escorts him through a crowd of fans,” the photo caption reads.

A screenshot of the picture used by the Reddit user 

There is one which was first tweeted on the Twitter handle Barça Worldwide.@Barcaworldwide. It was tweeted on May 22, 2022, before the World Cup. In the thread, there are words said by Messi,..” it was very scary but utterly unintentional. That guy didn’t even realize he was pointing the rifle at me.“

A post with the same picture was published by a Saudi Paper, AFP/Al- Watan Newspaper via Getty Images. The photo was captioned, ‘A picture taken on November 12 2012 shows Argentina’s forward Lionel Messi being escorted by Saudi security personnel upon his arrival with the team in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

Conclusion:

According to the results from the searches, the picture was first taken in 2012, in  Saudi Arabia, when Lionel Messi was in Saudi for official duties. The soldiers were escorting him, trying to protect him from the fans. Lionel Messi is in Qatar with the Argentina team.

#FactsMatter, don’t be a victim of fake news; instead, let’s fight misinformation on both mainstream and alternative media. To avoid spreading false information, don’t share content you’re unsure about or know where it comes from.

To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/ or send us a WhatsApp message at +211 917 298 255 to present a claim, and our team will immediately fact-check it and respond.

Fact-check: No, the World Bank is not funding jobs through the South Sudan Relief Fund

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According to the RRC, no organisation goes by the name South Sudan Relief Fund, and the World Bank is not sponsoring it.

By Ochaya Jackson

A one-page document trending on WhatsApp claiming that the South Sudan Relief Fund, in collaboration with the World Bank, is offering job opportunities is false.

According to the document, the South Sudan Relief Fund is a humanitarian non-governmental organisation whose mission is to “provide peace and hope” to the community by providing aid.

“South Sudan Relief Fund is a Non-Profit Organization dedicated to bringing food, safe drinking water, clothing, shelter, medical attention and hope to the people of South Sudan. Our mission is to provide peace and hope for the future by alleviating immediate humanitarian concerns,” part of the document reads.

“We are currently partnering with [the] World Bank to recruit qualified candidates for the [following] positions in all the states of South Sudan,” the document states.

Intern, nurse, doctor/pharmacist, office secretary, clerical officer, driver, security guard, community health officer, environmental health officer, accountant, engineer, technical support staff, data entry clerk, and trained teachers are among the over 1,000 job openings with an application deadline of November 24, 2022, on the false advertisement.

The image format of the document in circulation

However, 211 Check finds that the document is neither genuine nor from the right institution. The document header bears the Sudan Relief Fund logo at the left edge and the World Bank at the right, but beneath it takes the name “South Sudan Relief Fund,” which contradicts or points to a scam.

The email address to which the applicants are to send their documents is a private one without the domain of the organisation, which is uncommon and lacks both the stamp and signature. 

A search on the Google engine about South Sudan Relief Fund returned no results for an organisation with such a name at the time of publication, but the claim impersonates the Sudan Relief Fund.

There are no job vacancies advertised currently by Sudan Relief Fund on its website after a search was performed, however.

And the World Bank website does not show any partnership with South Sudan Relief Fund to sponsor job vacancies.

Conclusion:

There is no organisation called the South Sudan Relief Fund in the registrar’s database for nongovernmental organisations at the South Sudan Relief and Rehabilitation Commission. Still, the claim impersonates the Sudan Relief Fund organisation to scam people with job vacancies.

And the World Bank is not sponsoring any job vacancies in partnership with the non-existent South Sudan Relief Fund.

This fact check was published by 211 Check with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and the African Fact-Checking Alliance. 

Fact-check:  Is the US Federal Reserve planning to purge old dollar notes in 2023? No, it’s false

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No publicly available announcement by any United States government agency claims the American government has decided to restrict the acceptance of old dollar notes printed below 2021

Writer:  Ochaya Jackson

US $ 100 notes

A claim shared widely among WhatsApp users that the United States government has planned to contain “any US dollar below the 2021 printed date” is false.

The move, which according to the claim, was reached on 2nd November 2022 in Washington DC, aims to get rid of the illegal billions of dollars stockpiled in the African continent originating from illicit activities relating to drugs, terrorism, kidnapping, and ill-gotten cash by politicians. 

And to enforce the decision, the central banks in Africa will be assigned officials from the United States Federal Reserve to monitor the inflows and outflows of dollar transactions.

“Sequel to the just concluded extraordinary meeting held in Washington DC on Nov. 2nd 2022 between the United States Federal Reserve Bank, Office of the Comptroller of Currency, IMF, World-Bank and Governors of Africa’s Central Banks, the United States Govt has set a date for restriction on the acceptable legal tender note of US Dollar which will commence on Jan. 31st 2023”, part of the message claim reads.

“The restriction implies that any US Dollar note below 2021 printed date will no longer be accepted or be a legal tender anywhere in the world… This effort is to curb billions of illegal monies in dollar bills warehoused around the African continent emanating from drug-related, terrorism, kidnapping and money from corrupt politicians”, the claim added.

The screenshot of the widely circulating claim on the WhatsApp

211 Check established that the claim appeared to have been doctored in other circumstances, like in Nigeria, especially when the central bank of Nigeria decided in October 2022 to redesign Naira. 

The false claim popped up and was forwarded widely in WhatsApp groups citing Reuters’ report that the United States was controlling the acceptance of dollars below 2021, which turned out to be false after PR Nigeria fact-checked it. 

No publicly available announcement by any United States government agency claims the American government has decided to restrict the acceptance of old dollar notes printed below 2021. 

However, the federal reserve only on 3rd November announced the pricing adjustment, which will be effective on 3rd January 2023; for payment services it provides to depository institutions like clearing of checks, ACH transactions, wholesale payment and settlement services, according to a press release posted on its website.

And the fact sheet from the US federal reserve website indicates that “all U.S. currency remains legal tender, regardless of when it was issued”.

Conclusion

The claim that the US government has planned to restrict the acceptance of old dollar notes printed below 2021 is false.

This fact check was published by 211 Check with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and the African Fact-Checking Alliance.

Fact-check: FIFA is NOT offering a free 50 GB data plan for all networks

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Writer: Ochaya Jackson

A viral WhatsApp message doing the rounds in groups claiming that the Federation of Football Association (FIFA) is offering free 50GB data on all networks to watch the 2022 World Cup in Qatar is false.

The message contains a phishing and malicious link 

Screenshot of a viral WhatsApp message

Investigation:

211 Check investigated the link, which directed to one webpage with poorly presented photos of football players.

“It starts here with early bird offers….save more than 30%. One world one home”, reads the message on a webpage which further directed you to click another button.

The screenshot of the webpage

The page provided the bar to enter a number to check for eligibility to receive and activate the claimed 50GB data plan for three months on the mobile phone.

“Enter your number to check if you are Eligible to Receive and Activate free 50GB data plan valid for three months on your mobile phone now”, it directed.

211 Check entered in a non-existent number on any telecommunication network. Still, the reply was that the number is eligible for the offer, however, with the condition to share with twelve friends or groups on WhatsApp.

“Congratulations! Your Number is Eligible to receive free 50GB Data, Valid for 3 months. To get your free 50GB data, click the green button “WHATSAPP” and share this information with 12 Friends or Groups on WhatsApp. Let us celebrate together. Invite Your loved Ones to benefit also. After sending the message, you will get free 50GB of data on your Mobile within 5 minutes”.

The screenshot of the reply after entering the number

Analysis

The claim contained a fake Unified Resource Locator (URL) unrelated to or associated with FIFA. The Whois information look-up shows that it was registered in May 2022 and expires in May 2023.

The screenshot of the whois look-up of the fake URL

However, the whois look-up of the FIFA website shows that it was registered in August 1995 and expires in August 2023, which is totally different from the claimed URL.

The screenshot of the FIFA website whois look-up

The URL contained in the claim has been detected by the anti-virus Kaspersky as meant for phishing to trick people into providing their passwords and credit card details and has the threat of data loss by device users.

The screenshot of the Kaspersky’s detecting the fake URL link

Besides, 211 Check analysed the URL using virus total and found six security vendors (Avira, Fortinet, Sophos, Forcepoint ThreatSeeker, CyRadar, Kaspersky, and Viettel Threat Intelligence) categorised the URL as malicious and designed for an online phishing attack.

The screenshot of the virus total analysis seen by 211 Check

And on the fake URL claims that the 50 GB data is rewarded through Digital Energy Technologies Ltd’s portal is false.

In conclusion,

The claim is a false and malicious trend to attack people online, and it is not accurate because there is no substantive evidence to prove that the claim is from a legitimate entity. When the URL is clicked and loaded, it downloads malware into devices with weak security features.

This fact check was published by 211 Check with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and the African Fact-Checking Alliance.

Fact-check: Has FIFA security intercepted alcohol disguised as Pepsi cola in Qatar at a stadium’s entrance?

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No, the FIFA security check has not intercepted alcohol deceitfully labelled as Pepsi cola in Qatar at a stadium entrance.

Writer: Ghai Aketch 

After the Qatari government and FIFA revised the policy banning the sale of alcohol in and around the eight stadiums hosting the FIFA World Cup matches, an image claimed to be of a security officer in Qatar peeling labels on cans masked as Pepsi soft drinks emerged online. 

The photo was severally captioned depicting the ongoing FIFA event in Qatar, “Fans smuggling beer into Qatari.” Another one  captioned it,” Current situation in Qatar after FIFA banned alcohol.”

Here is the screenshot

However,  our keywords and image searches confirmed that the image was not taken in Qatar at the onset of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The viral image of a customs officer peeling off the mask wrapped on cans was first published in November 2015 when customs officers at the Al-Batha border between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates stopped a truck smuggling alcohol disguised as soft drinks, according to several news reports.

In 2015, many publications across the world reported more or less the same; Saudi Arabia Seizes 48,000 Cans of Heineken Beer Disguised as Pepsi

As quoted then by the Morocco World News, the Al-Batha border General Manager Abdulrahman al-Mahna was quoted as saying:

“A truck carrying what first seemed to be normal cans of the soft drink Pepsi was stopped, and after the standard process of searching the products, it became clear that the alcoholic beers were covered with Pepsi’s sticker logos.”

But this image has resurfaced and gone viral on social media platforms because of Qatar’s alcohol ban in the stadiums.

Alcohol consumption is strictly controlled in Qatar, with Qatari having to get a permit from the government to buy it from government-controlled distributors.

And so, anyone caught taking it in public or found drunk on the roads is prone to a six months jail term or fine of about $800 US dollars, according to dohaguide.com. 

The Muslim country has, therefore, remained rigid in allowing alcohol sale to thousands of spectators worldwide despite earlier negotiations with Fifa.

Conclusion:

Based on our research, World Cup security officials or the Qatar government have not seized any alcohol labelled as a soft drink in the country following the ban on the sale of alcohol in and around the World Cup stadiums.

Additionally, the image recently trended before the Sunday opening match between Qatar and Ecuador.

This fact check was published by 211 Check with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and the African Fact-Checking Alliance.

Fact-check: Did a Malawian man attempt to sneak into South Sudan by hanging on a plane’s wing from Malawi?

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No, the man was not a Malawian but a Nigerian in Lagos at the Murtala Muhammed International airport enroute to Port  Har-court.

Writer: Ghai Aketch

Earlier this week, a claim showing an image of a man hanging on plane’s wing published by Smart Family TV went viral  in South Sudan captioned as: 

“Malawian man was seen hanging on the wing of an aeroplane and said he wanted to travel abroad seeking a better life, the plane was from Malawi to Juba, South Sudan,” the post reads. 

Screenshot of the post on Facebook

However, our reverse image and keywords searches returned the same image of a Nigerian man who illegally accessed the runway and climbed on a plane’s wing when it was preparing for a take off at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on 19 July 2019. 

According to the Azman Airline, the pilot radioed the security after the authorised man was struggling to access the plane’s cabin, posing danger to the passengers on board. 

According to reports, he climbed on the plane’s wings after dropping his bag in the engine. Fortunately, a passenger on board was quick to capture the unexpected scene on 19 July 2019 that went viral. 

The man was later identified by the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria as a Nigerian-born Usman Adamu while in police custody at that time.  

Conclusion:

The information purporting South Sudan and Malawi is false. The original publications clearly indicated the Azman Airline was enroute to Port Har-court. But not Juba, South Sudan.

This fact check was published by 211 Check with support from Code for Africa’s PesaCheck and the African Fact-Checking Alliance.