Tag Archive for: #FactCheck

Fact-check: Be aware the Ministry of Finance is not calling for grant applications 

The Ministry of Finance has confirmed to 211 Check and cautioned online users that a Facebook page calling for grant applications is fake. Previously 211 Check warned of similar hoaxes targeting the netizens in South Sudan.

Writer: Ghai Aketch

Several fake calls for grant applications have been targeting unsuspecting South Sudanese lately in an attempt to collect important data or even exhort money.

This Facebook hoax purporting the Ministry of Finance shared on December 7 claims it is offering $350M as funding from international organisations geared towards agriculture and trade improvement in South Sudan. But that information is false.

“Applications are still ongoing following the grant worth $350M we received from the International Monetary Fund, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and the Global Entrepreneurship Network. This program is targeted to boost trade, investment and agriculture,” the false claim reads in part.

Screenshot of the post shared on 7th December

The transparency section of the imposter page states that it was created on 7th December 

Additionally, the link directs applicants to a Google form to fill in their personal data.

211 Check called the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and looked at the digital platforms for USAID to find out if this call for grant applications is real or not:

We contacted Maal Maker, the Head of Media in the Ministry of Finance and Planning- South Sudan. However, in response to our  enquiry, he told 211 Check-in writing  that “this information is fake.” 

He shared the ministry’s official page used for official communications.  

Screenshot for the legitimate Finance Ministry’s Facebook page

We also checked the USAID South Sudan website and social media accounts, Facebook and Twitter handle, but no grant application information is available.  

In  October this year 211 Check debunked a similar hoax offering the same amount, 350M dollars. But it was mimicking the  Ministry of Investment. The ministry later denied having a call for funding through its official Facebook page.

Additionally, in April,  211 Check warned online users of another scam of the same application requirements, which resurfaced online.

Conclusion:

211 Check concludes that the page calling for grant applications is a hoax. It was created on the same day, December 7, 2022, and sponsored the false call for applications. 

We noticed that this impostor page goes by the name Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, but the genuine page is named Ministry of Finance and Planning-South Sudan. The legitimate page does not have the word ‘Economic’ as part of its name.

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

Fact-check: No, a Chinese Pastor didn’t say he saw South Sudanese collecting firewood in heaven

Writer: Ochaya Jackson

A tweet by Mariana Chep with a screenshot claiming that a Chinese pastor has seen South Sudanese gathering firewood in heaven is false.

Chinese pastor reveals he saw South Sudanese collecting firewood in heaven,” reads the text on the screenshot shared on Twitter.

The screenshot of the tweet by Mariana Chep

The tweet by Mariana Chep got 14 replies, 7 retweets, and 27 reactions by the time of writing this fact-check.

When 211 Check performed keywords search “people collecting firewood in heaven” on Google; the return is that the incident appeared to have been published in 2018 on the Nairaland website, about a supposed Chinese Evangelist Wang Xiu Yin, who reportedly died and resurrected after 17 hours and narrated that he saw many Africans collecting firewood in hell.

And according to BestNewsGH.com, which also published the story in 2018; Wang Xiu Yin was sent back to life after an angel named Luj intervened by saying it was not yet time for him to die.

A reverse image search of the picture in the screenshot shows it is of Chinese-American pastor Po-Ming Wang of Christ Church of Bay Area in San Mateo, California – United States, not pastor Wang Xiu Yin as claimed. Pastor Po-Ming’s picture appeared to have been taken from a YouYube video of him posted in 2014 when he was delivering a Chinese sermon service.

And also, in 2019, a Facebook page Juba Eye posted the same claim that a Chinese pastor interacted with the angel who told the pastor that those gathering firewood in heaven to keep themselves warm were South Sudanese.

The screenshot of the Juba Eye Facebook page

Results of the research conducted about the claimed pastor Wang Xiu Yin turned out to be similar to pastor Wang Yi who was imprisoned in 2019 for nine years because of illegal business operations.

Additionally, his name is not among the list of Chinese pastors and religious Ministers who made public petition against persecution in China in 2018.

A search on Google using the keywords Pastor Wang Xiu Yin, and Evangelist Wang Xiu Yin did not yield any results. 

Conclusion:

The Twitter claim that a Chinese pastor found South Sudanese gathering firewood in heaven is false, and the existence of the claimed pastor is rare.

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

Fact-check: South Sudanese pastor bathing women in church? No, the photos are by a Ghanaian skitmaker

Writer: Wek Atak Kacjang

A Facebook post on the 7th of December purporting to be of a Pastor in South Sudan and suspected to be an ‘Atendior church‘ washing his congregation with water inside the church is false.

Mayom Paul Abol Lok, who has over 4,900 friends and 352 followers on Facebook, published the post, which received over 30 interactions and 12 comments.

From the people in the pictures to the comments made by some of his friends and followers, something didn’t look right about them.

Screenshot of the Facebook post

But are these photos of a pastor in South Sudan washing church members real?

211 Check did a reverse image search on the pictures with the help of google lenses and realised the same pictures were used in Nigeria by a local online platform, Naira land, in January 2022 by ExAngel007. With the headline ‘Pastor strips Female Members, Bathe them during crossover’.

Other sites also had similar pictures with the same heading as seen here, here, and here,

But another site, Exclusive Base, did different research that was shared by other sites here and here. They found out that Mark Mensah, the CEO of Phens Multimedia in Ghana, made the pictures that were widely shared on social media.

People often call MensahPastor Blinks,” but he is not a pastor; he makes skits. Here’s the rest of the story.

Conclusion:

The above evidence indicates that these photographs were not taken in South Sudan. They are Ghanaian in origin.

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: No, Qatar Energy and FIFA are not giving out cash celebration gifts

Scam artists do this to make sure as many people as possible click on their link. This link wants to get information from people. With this information, someone could swap SIM cards and get into your phone, email, bank, and other accounts.

Writer: Jibi Moses

A link going viral claims that Qatar Energy and FIFA are giving out cash in the promotion to celebrate the World Cup, which is currently going on in Qatar.

The link being widely shared on WhatsApp has the title: “QatarEnergy World Cup Qatar 2022 Celebration Gifts” It then tells readers, “Congratulations! QatarEnergy World Cup Qatar 2022 Celebration Gifts. Through the questionnaire, you will have a chance to get 100000 pounds.”

A screenshot of the first image you get.

The site gives you two options of continuing or not by clicking on the answers to four questions. The questions are 1. Do you know Qatar Energy? 2. How old are you? 3. How do you think of QatarEnergy? 4. What’s your age? 

Right after you answer the questions, you get another message of congratulations with a picture of 1,000 South Sudanese Pound notes. You must share with other people before you get the price. About 20 people or in five WhatsApp Groups.

This is an example of classic engagement bait. These are typically social media posts in which people are encouraged to interact by liking, commenting or sharing. This expands the post’s reach but provides no reward or celebration gifts.

Screenshot showing the congratulatory pop-up message

The link looked like it could be phishing, so we looked into it.

What is Qatar Energy?

Wikipedia writes that Qatar Energy, formerly Qatar Petroleum, is the state Petroleum company responsible for all the oil and gas activities in the country headed by the Minister of State for Energy affairs. Qatar Energy’s home page writes a lot about itself, its activities, career opportunities and its staff. There is no mention of these said celebration gifts on its site.

Domain information of quatarenergy.qa 

FIFA is the world’s football governing body in full as International Federation Association Football, with its headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, and its current President is Gianni Infantino. And the Association was founded on May 21, 1904, in Rue Saint-Honore, Paris. France. Its website does not show that they’re offering cash celebrations gifts as claimed in the phishing link.

Domain information of the FIFA.com 

Attempts to obtain comments from the organisations were futile because their Facebook and Twitter direct message boxes were closed to the public. They still needed to respond to our emails as of the publication date.

Domain information of the impostor site

Conclusion:

The claim that Qatar Energy and FIFA are giving out cash celebration gifts in South Sudanese Pounds is false. The message contains a phishing link that is part of engagement bait.

So, people should be as careful as possible to avoid these cheap and too-good-to-be-true deals.

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

Fact check: No, this photo showing naked dancers was not taken in a Juba Club

This photo doesn’t show an incident that happened in Juba; according to TinEye reverse image search, it has been used to describe events in Zimbabwe, and Nigeria in 2016 and 2018, respectively.

Writer: Beatrice Amude Paulino

A Facebook post on the 4th December 2022 by Lainya TV claiming that “a girl was seen undressing while dancing” to music star DJ Cent is false and misleading. 

The page claimed the photo of the dancers was taken in a disco club in Juba over the weekend.

“This weekend at a club in Juba, a girl was seen undressing slowly while dancing to Dj-Cent Mr No Rest ‘s latest hit. The girl was wearing a full sexy outfit before the Dj played the vibe “Let me be your lover” from  Dj cent that made the girl dance to the table while removing everything,” reads part of the Facebook post.

“The Dj was motivated and kept repeating the song until the girl finally removes her bra and lay on the table. People gave cheers and asked the Dj to increase the volume which made the girl undress fully naked before two responsible slay queens intervene and wrapped her in some clothes and dragged her out,” it added.

The screenshot of the Lainya TV Facebook post

The post garnered about 30 comments, 33 shares, and 88 reactions as of writing this fact-check. 

DJ Cent, who the post said the girl was dancing to his song, shared the post on his Facebook page and reacted by saying he needed the girl’s number so that he could bless her December.

However, 211 Check performed a reverse image search on the photo using TinEye, and it turned out that the photo was published on a website in Zimbabwe in 2016, describing the growth of dancing naked in the country’s nightclubs.

The photo was also used in the circumstances described to be in a Nigerian club in 2018. And DJ Cent is also not in the photo, which the post claims shows a girl dancing to his song.

Conclusion:

This didn’t happen in Juba. According to TinEye reverse image search, the image has been used in the past to describe events in Zimbabwe, and Nigeria in 2016 and 2018, respectively.


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

Fact-check: University of Juba VC overstated 2022 graduation figures in August

VC John Akec estimated in August that the University of Juba would graduate 7,000 students this year, but only 3,500 graduated 

Writer: Ochaya Jackson

The University of Juba’s Vice Chancellor John Akec, in August 2022 projected in a meeting with President Salva Kiir that the University would graduate 7,000 students.

He [John Akec] also informed H.E. the President about increase admissions of many students to public universities. Noting that this year [2022], the University of Juba will graduate 7,000 students,” the presidential press quoted John Akec in August this year.

This was when he met the president to inform him about the state of academic affairs at the university. The minutes of the meeting were posted on the verified Facebook page of the Office of the President – Republic of South Sudan.

The number of intakes have increased and we are working to expand the number of lecture halls in our facility,” John added as quoted by the office of the president.

The screenshot of the Facebook post meeting minutes, by Office of the President 

The Juba-based English daily newspaper City Review published a story titled “University of Juba to graduate 7,000 students” on August 23, 2022, about a day after the meeting, which it sourced from the Office of the President’s Facebook page post meeting minutes when Professor John Akec met the President.

‘‘I had a fruitful meeting with President Salva Kiir, and I hope there will be steady improvements in the state of affairs of public universities across the country,’’ VC Akec was quoted as saying by City Review.

The University of Juba held its 2022 graduation ceremony on November 26th. How many students graduated then? 7,000? Certainly not.

211 Check obtained professor John Akec’s structured presentation speech during the recently concluded graduation on the 26th November, 2022 at the University of Juba, which was presided over by Vice President James Wani Igga. He said the overall total graduands were 3,500 whereby only 2,400 were present; approximately 2,000 males and 400 females graduated respectively.

Your excellency, the Vice President, and representative of the Chancellor, distinguished guests, graduands, parents, ladies and gentlemen. I want to congratulate our 3,500 graduands of today for their landmark achievement. Those in attendance today are about 2,400 graduands comprising about 2,000 males and 400 females. Of these, 12 will be awarded doctorate degrees, 513 will be awarded masters, 137 will be awarded postgraduate diplomas, 973 will receive bachelor degrees, [and] 737 will be awarded intermediate diplomas,” Vice Chancellor John Akec stated in his speech to the public.

In an interview on the state-run South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation before the graduation, John Akec also said that 3,500 students were graduating from different colleges, but only 2,400 were there.

Looking back at University of Juba graduation in 2021:

Only a year ago, in 2021, at least 1,756 students from various colleges and faculties at the University of Juba graduated. There were 1,452 males and 304 females among them according to reports by Eye Radio and Juba Echo.

Conclusion:

211 Check concludes that John Akec overstated in his August projection in which he claimed that 7,000 students would graduate from the University of Juba this year, 2022. Only 3,500 students graduated from the university in its 2022 graduation held on 26th November.


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

Fact-check: Yes, this was the ball used in the first World Cup final in 1930

This was the ball supplied by the Uruguayans. The inaugural FIFA World Cup was held in Uruguay in 1930. Thirteen teams competed in the tournament.

Writer: Jibi Moses

A Facebook post by Alàbi Tolulope Micheal ATM, a page with 22,000 likes and 28,000 followers, sharing a photograph of the first World Cup ball used in 1930 is true. 

The  First World Cup ball used in the Final, 1930. ‘In the first World Cup final, held on July 30, 1930. 93,000 spectators looked on as Uruguay defeated Argentina 4-2 with this ball,’ the post read in part.

The post was published on the 17th of November 2022, before the start of this year’s World Cup tournament in Qatar on the 20th of the same month, by a page that describes itself as a journalist. 

It spread like wildfire, getting more than 34,000 likes, 400 comments, and 590 shares. People reacted differently to the post, which could be seen in the comments, though many people thought it was a joke.

I remember it was made of rock. Very durable,” commented Simon Mukabi. Raf Icon said, “…This ball has undergone surgery.

A screenshot of the post by Àlàbi.

Was the ball in the post used in the 1930 final of the first World Cup? 211 Check takes a look at the claim.

An Internet search yielded results, and the findings indicate that the finals in 1930 were played between Argentina and Uruguay, with Uruguay winning by a score of 4-2 goals. No official ball was used for the tournament in that game, which caused controversy in the final game. Whereas both countries brought their handmade leather balls, the match ball was chosen by a coin toss, and Argentina won the toss, so the match began with their ball named-Tiento. However, T-Model for was the ball brought in by Uruguay in the second half. The tournament’s Golden Boot was won by Josè Nasazzi.

A reverse image search on the image of the ball using Yandex brought many sites with the picture of the ball explaining the same. One of the sites is Wiki Commons, which writes in detail as this was one of the balls used in there was a disagreement between the two countries and this very ball was used in the second half, was provided by Uruguay and is currently kept in the National Football Museum, Preston. Some other sites also conform, as seen here, here, herehere, and here.

A screenshot of the search results from Yandex.

Conclusion:

211 Check finds that the ball in the photograph was one of the balls used in the final match between Argentina and Uruguay in 1930, and it is now housed in the National Football Museum in Preston.

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

Fact-check: No, these photos do not show a drinking competition in Juba recently

Writer: Amule Alex

A Facebook post by Juba Media claiming that a drinking competition was held in Juba is false.

The post, which featured photos of some women drinking from the bottles of Heineken, asked people about who they thought would have won.

“We had a drinking competition last night in Juba. Who do you think won”? reads the post without mentioning where the event was held in Juba and which company organised it.

The screenshot of the false competition post by Juba Media

However, when the photos were verified by 211 Check using Google image lens, it appeared that it was tweeted on the Twitter handle Kulani on September 7th, 2022. And the tweet did not mention any drinking competition that took place in Juba. 

Screenshot of the tweet by Kulani

Also, the tweet, which generated 107 retweets, 56 quote tweets, and 529 reactions, did not describe the purpose and the location of the photos where the event took place.

Typically brewery companies that sell drinks like beer organise drinking competitions as part of their marketing strategy campaign to promote their brands, and it attracts crowds involving entertainment.

But no such event had occurred recently in Juba, as the Juba Media Facebook post claimed.

Conclusion:

The Facebook post by Juba Media on the 30th of November 2022 that the drinking competition took place in Juba over the weekend is false. A public event of such has yet to be held recently.

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: No, Pope Francis has not written a retirement speech that is going around on WhatsApp

The viral retirement speech allegedly written by Pope Francis and widely circulated on WhatsApp is a long-running hoax that has been online since 2021.

Writer: Deng Akok Madhan

A WhatsApp message forwarded widely in groups about Pope Francis’s retirement speech that claims to have shocked the world is false. 

The message, which urged people to read “regardless of religion,” centred on the family as a place of forgiveness.

“There is no healthy marriage or healthy family without the exercise of forgiveness. Forgiveness is the medicine of family joy and happiness. Forgiveness is vital to our emotional health and spiritual survival. No matter the offense or who is the offender. Without forgiveness, the family becomes an arena of conflict and a fortress of evil. Without forgiveness, the family becomes sick and unhealthy”, reads part of the message.

The screenshot of the widely forwarded WhatsApp about Pope Francis’s claimed retirement speech

The Pope’s claimed speech continued to pin unforgiveness as toxins that kill anyone who can not forgive the other. 

“Unforgiving is Evil and a poison that intoxicates and kills the one who refuses to forgive. Keeping the heartache of unforgiving in your heart is a self-destructive gesture. It’s autophagy. Those who do not forgive are physically, emotionally, and spiritually ill. And they will suffer in two ways. For this reason, the family must be a place of life and not a place of death; a place of forgiveness, a place of paradise and not a place of hell; a healing territory and not a disease; an internship of forgiveness and not guilt”, the message continues.

The screenshot of the WhatsApp message claim
The screenshot of the WhatsApp message claim

Is it true, however, that Pope France, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church, wrote the retirement speech that has been making the rounds on WhatsApp? Here’s what we discovered:

211 Check conducted research into the claim about Pope’s resignation. The claim was circulated a year ago and continued even though it was proven false after a fact check.

And lately, in July this year, Pope Francis refuted the same claim in an interview with Televisa Univision.

Conclusion:

Pope Francis has not tailored any resignation speech that is claimed to have shocked the world. The written resignation speech purportedly written by Pope Francis and circulated on WhatsApp is false.

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

Blog: South Sudan must fortify its cyberspace as cybercrime attacks cost billions of dollars in losses globally

Cyber attacks are one of the most dangerous phenomena haunting people worldwide. The attacks, aided by information technology infrastructure and actors, cause severe damage to the lives of people everywhere.

Writer: Ochaya Jackson

Cyber crime is committed through illegal attacks by entities or individuals using collective methods of knowledge, device and the internet to get unauthorised access to computer systems, networks and other information technology devices. 

Cyber-attacks are of various categories and take different dimensions depending on the attacker’s interests in the target. It combines techniques, skills, devices and the target’s vulnerability to accomplish a successful attack.

If they succeed in the attacks, data is compromised, devices are infected, and the victims are psychologically tortured as they are left with pain.

The cyber-attack actors are the crime organisations, the state, and the individual. The mission of the attack may differ, but it primarily is to harvest data from the targets that could yield millions or billions of dollars and information gathering.

There are many types of cyber-attacks, including phishing, SQL injection threat, man – in – the middle, cross-site scripting, distributed denial of service, password, AI-powered, drive, eavesdropping, ransomware, and so on.

These attacks are the most commonly used globally to commit cybercrime operations over the internet to compromise victims.

The illustration of phishing attack © AAG IT Company

Even though the internet has many advantages, South Sudanese should be aware of its risks and dangers. This necessitates understanding cybercrime attacks and the methods used to carry them out.

Nobody can, however, eliminate cyber attacks, but understanding the dynamics of the attacks can help reduce attacks and save money and people’s lives.

According to the AAG IT Company 2022 cyber crime report, phishing attacks are widely executed.

Phishing remains the most common form of cybercrime. Globally, 323,972 internet users fell victim to phishing attacks in 2021. This means half of the users who were a victim of cybercrime fell for a phishing attack. An average of $136 lost per phishing attack amounts to $44.2 million stolen by cyber criminals through phishing attacks in 2021”, part of the report reads.

The victims of cybercrime are targeted using emails, and in 2021, the report said about one billion emails were breached, and the data lost is sold to criminals to enhance further attacks.

“Phishing attacks largely target victims through emails; 2021 saw nearly 1 billion emails exposed, affecting 1 in 5 internet users. These breached databases are sold on black marketplaces on the dark web, meaning cyber criminals can purchase them and use the addresses in phishing attacks”.

The Phishing Trends both in 2021 and 2022

The LinkedIn platform is where phishing email attacks are delivered because of its many users. In the first quarter of 2021, phishing emails attached to LinkedIn were highly clicked at 42%, followed by Facebook at 20% and Twitter at 9%.

LinkedIn42%
Facebook20%
Twitter9%
Table showing phishing percentage attacks volume delivered through emails on social media

And in the first quarter of 2022, there are five top platforms which experienced phishing, with LinkedIn taking the lead at 52%, DHL at 14%, Google at 7%, Microsoft at 6%, and FedEx at 6%.

LinkedIn52%
DHL14%
Google7%
Microsoft6%
FedEx6%
Table showing phishing attack volume delivered through different platforms

The rationales for the increase in the cost of cybercrime are that cybercriminals have developed new attack technologies, many countries have weak cybersecurity, cybercrime has turned into a service or business, and the criminals monetise their targets, according to Internet Society Organization.

In an article published by Security Magazine, which highlighted the state of phishing report for 2022 by SlashNext, it found 255 million attacks had taken place in the form of URL based-links, email messages, and mobile and browser channels, amounting to 61% higher than in 2021.

The report indicated that phishing attacks have shifted to mobile devices and communication channels, primarily targeting employees with scams and personal information theft.

Global Cybercrime statistics 2022

The worldwide trends of cybercrime have wrecked damages lost to institutions, individuals, and information technology devices.

In Europe, the United Kingdom has many cybercrime victims, numbering 4783 as of November 2022, above 40% compared with 2020.

In the first quarter of 2022, Russia had 42.92 million data breaches. However, it dropped to 28.78 million violations in the second quarter of 2022. 

The United States of America accounts for 46% of cybercrime attacks worldwide. In Asia, Pakistan experienced an 83% increase in financial fraud committed through social media between 2018 and 2021.

 In  2018, about 17,560 India-based websites were hacked, including 26,121 one in 2020 were hacked.  In the African continent, Nigeria in 2022 has seen 1616% higher data breaches in the first quarter, 35 472 in the second quarter, and 608,765 in the third quarter.

In Australia, $72 million was lost in 2022 through scams. In September this year, Optus telecommunications company experienced a data breach that victimised about 2.1 million customers, and 9.8 million records were stolen.

In conclusion, with the advance in technology, cyber crimes have become more sophisticated, lucrative, and well-organized. The attackers evade the security layers or protocols of individuals, groups, organisations, institutions, and devices.

The victims of the attacks could be institutions, individuals, and information technology devices or infrastructures.

This blog post was published as part of the Fact-checking and Digital Rights Fellowship in the context of the Africa Digital Rights Fund with support from the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA).