Tag Archive for: #FactCheck

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

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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, here,  here, 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

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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

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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

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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). 

Fact-check: Yes, these images show a traffic jam along Seventh-day – Gudele street in Juba

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There was heavy traffic along Saint Kizito – Gudele street. If you look closely, there are water tanks common in South Sudan.

Writer Beatrice Amude Paulino

A Facebook post on 24th November 2022 by Paam Ke sharing pictures of a traffic jam along Gudele street in South Sudan’s capital city, Juba, is true.

“A traffic jam at Seventh Day Round about this evening. A lot of cars…,” partly reads the post‘s caption in which the pictures were shared.

But people said different things. Some people in the crowd were not sure if the photos were really taken on Gudele Street in Juba.

“I don’t think it’s the Seventh-day – Gudele street,” wonders one Mr. Malish Michael

“You are lying we don’t have these types of cars in South Sudan. Stop lying,” warned another.

Which begs the question, where exactly were these pictures taken? Why don’t we find out?

Using visual cues, one could see similar structures along the roads, an MTN billboard in the far left corner, a mGurush billboard in the far right ends, and some water tank trucks, which are common in Juba.

MTN billboard near Star Village Building and mGurush Billboard at the far right  

A search on Facebook for “Gudele jam” yielded the same images that were first posted on November 24th, 2022, at 5:01 pm by Advance Digital, a Juba-based mainstream media company.

“Heavy Traffic Jam around St Kizito,” it captioned the pictures.

According to our observations, the photos were taken from the upper level of the building where Advance Digital is located, Star Village.

MTN billboard near Star Village Building and mGurush Billboard at the far right

Juba Electricity Distribution Company (JEDCO) poles and a transformer are also visible

Conclusion: 

211 Check confirms that these photographs were taken on November 24, 2022, along Seventh-day – Gudele Street. They were taken from an aerial view of the Star Village Building, which is located on this road.

#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: 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.