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.