Tag Archive for: #FactCheck

Fact-check: Is there a new way of using Facebook and WhatsApp for free? No.

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The only Free Facebook that allows you to text is offered by MTN South Sudan. You don’t need to give anyone your login credentials such as phone number, email or password to use Facebook for free on MTN.

By 211 Check Desk

Recently, hoax messages have circulated claiming that there is a new way “to use Facebook and WhatsApp without the need to buy data bundles for six months.”

The message sender then requests a user’s login information, such as their phone number and password, so that “they could activate it.”

Screenshot of the Hoax Message

Some desperate users who shared their login information were compromised, resulting in the loss of their Facebook and Messenger accounts.

“If you receive one of these messages, delete it and ignore it instead of forwarding it,” says Arik Robert, SafetyComm South Sudan Team Leader, to 211 Check.

“Those who participate in the hoax waste their time and have their online privacy violated,” he said.

Common Facebook Scams

  • Fake Links/Clickjacking – Fake news, free giveaways, etc. can be delivery methods for malware. Just like email scams of the past, these leverage stories, news or offers that catch your attention. The point is to have you click on a link or share something that propagates malware. 

Examples include:

  1. Direct Messages with links or attempts to get you to look at something.
  2. Links resulting in another login request for Facebook/Email Provider – this is to harvest your account.
  3. Surveys – Some surveys on Facebook are created to harvest information about users for identity theft/account hijacking/spear phishing (crafted attacks).
  • Fake Accounts – Fake Facebook accounts can fall into many different types of scams. Examples include:
  1. Account Cloning – I’ve seen this approach grow in frequency in the last year. Indications of a cloned account are a second Facebook Friend Request – if you’re already connected on Facebook, you should not receive a second Facebook Friend Request. The old email trick – “I’m in jail in a foreign country, can you send money?” has migrated to Facebook with a different twist. 
  2. Friend of Friend/Relative – Some fake accounts are created and operated to entice you to trust them. Within a short period of time, they promise money or ask for it. Many scams revolve around large sums of money if you provide a fee or personal data.
  • Romance – Another common scam are requests to “be friends” or “…get to know you”. I’ve seen many people fall for these accounts. They can be grouped into two primary categories:
  1. For the Lulz – Some people create and operate fake accounts for their own personal needs or dysfunctions. They may not ask for money and simply crave attention. I’ve seen men pretend to be women and women pretend to be men in the digital world. 
  2. For the Money – These scammers are versed in spending time to build up a dependency.  They may send you small amounts of money to build up their credibility. Eventually, it leads to needing money from you. Once this starts, they go for everything they can get.  Many of these scammers know how to pull your heart strings to get what they want. 
  3. Your Employer – Sometimes it’s not about exploiting you, but who you work for. Cisco’s 2016 Annual Security Report listed malware delivered via Facebook scams as a top delivery method to compromise organizational networks. Great cybersecurity measures are easily compromised by enticing someone to click a link at work. Some employers block Facebook for these specific reasons. 

Protecting Yourself – There are some key steps to protect yourself: 

  • Setup Security – Many people think their accounts are secure and details hidden. Many people lockdown their posts, but leave photographs, check-ins, etc. open. These are all great data sources for scammers to use against you. Lock everything down and test the setup. Open only the functions that you need to.  (If you have security minded friends or family, ask them for help. Sometimes a second set of eyes spot missed settings.)
  • Real World Suspicion – If you wouldn’t do it in the physical world, don’t do it in the digital world. If you met someone on the street who said they lived in your neighborhood 20 years ago and ten minutes later asks for your Social Security Number to give you $2000, you’d be suspicious. You should use the same scrutiny and judgement, and more so, in the digital world. Just because someone says something is true, does not mean it is. It just means they said it. “Never assume anything is true until you verify it yourself.” If it sounds too good to be true, 99% of the time, it is not true.  Be cautious.

Conclusion:

211 Check has looked into messenger messages claiming that there is a new way of using Facebook and WhatsApp for free and finds them to be 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 not sure about or don’t know where it came from.

To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/how-to-fact-check/ 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.

This fact-check has been produced as part of our incubation program under Code for Africa.

Explainer: Using TinEye; Essential for Fact Checkers

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TinEye is an image search and recognition company with experts in computer vision, pattern recognition, neural networks and machine learning with a mission to make images searchable.

By #defyhatenow Cameroon

Social media has made it easier to share memories, pictures, and communication across distances. Even the most basic social media sites have enabled users to upload photos, share information about themselves and make friends. 

According to a publication on Social Media today; Social media dates back as far as the early 1840s.  The first recognizable social media site, “Six Degrees”, was created in 1997 by Andrew Weinreich. It enabled users to upload a profile and make friends with other users. 

In 1999, the first blogging sites became popular, creating a social media sensation that’s still popular to this day. As years have passed, an increasing number of social media platforms and sites such as WhatsApp, WeChat, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn among others have come up. 

These sites have attracted billions of users for diverse reasons. With the increase of user numbers on these platforms there has been a rise in the propagation of misinformation, disinformation, malinformation and Hate Speech. 

When the term “fake news” comes up, people think of social media posts with rather implausible stories. While posts shared on social media are the most visible aspect of it, there is so much more to fake news than exaggerated article titles on social media feeds. Given that “fake news” is often spread with the use of texts, images, videos, animated graphics, fact checkers have resorted to using open source platforms for verification to debunk “fake news”. 

Some of these open source platforms include; TinEye, Yandex, RevEye, Reverse Image Search, Google Reverse Image Search, Jeffrey’s Exif Viewer, Google Advanced Image search, Forensically among others. 

We will delve into dissecting TinEye.

Functions, Features and Methodology

TinEye is an image search and recognition company with experts in computer vision, pattern recognition, neural networks and machine learning with a mission to make images searchable.

It has a feature known as Compare Feature that lets you quickly switch back and forth between your search and result image by highlighting any differences between the two images. It’s especially useful to see how images have been cropped, resized, skewed or manipulated.Today, 

TinEye’s image recognition is used by millions of people and powers billions of searches across a wide range of industries. TinEye is privately owned, profitable and its revenues are generated by its clients. Using TinEye, one can search for detailed information on an image or perform a reverse image search. This can be done by uploading an image or searching by URL (Uniform Resource Locator), the address of a World Wide Web page. You can also simply drag and drop your images in the search box to start your search.TinEye constantly crawls the web and adds images to its index. 

Today, the TinEye index has over 41.9 billion images. To check about an image, you can upload it from your computer or mobile device by clicking the upload button to locate the image you wish to search for. To search by URL, simply copy and paste an image URL address into the search box. One can as well drag an image from a tab in his/her browser and drop it in a browser tab where TinEye is open.Lastly, it’s possible to simply Copy and Paste an image from your clipboard.

How to use Tineye to search for an image

You can search for an image with TinEye in three ways:

  • by drag and drop
  • by uploading an image
  • by giving TinEye a URL (this can be a page URL or an image URL)

The easiest way to search with TinEye is to drag and drop an image onto the TinEye webpage in your browser.

To search by uploading an image, just click the upload button (blue arrow in a circle) to select from your computer or device the image you’d like to search with.

You can search with a web address (URL) by simply copying the link into the search box on Tineye. 

Below are some YouTube videos on how to use TinEye in identifying a doctored image.

How to use Tineye: https://www.youtube.com/embed/XemlN-B7w38?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&rel=0

How to use Tineye identifying a doctored image: https://www.youtube.com/embed/I3Sbihz4vpI?feature=oembed&wmode=opaque&rel=0 

Most images found online are protected by copyright and should you like to use any image found through TinEye, you will need to find the image owner and contact them directly. 

Unless an image is identified as a public domain image, you need to ensure that you get in touch with any image copyright holder and secure the rights to use the image you have found. 

Unfortunately, in South Sudan, because of the weak legal system in the country, image copyrights are greatly abused as individuals, institutions and other reputable bodies extract people’s images from the internet and use them without their consent.

TinEye can be used to find out where an image came from or get more information about it and research or track the appearance of an image online. One can also find higher resolution versions of an image, locate web pages that make use of an image, discover modified or edited versions of an image, debunk an image or help with attribution.

Access wise, there is a paid and free version of TinEye. The former allows for virtually unlimited search by prepaid bundles while the latter gives room for one to do 100 searches per day and up to 300 per week.

Conclusion:

TinEye is a peculiar and unique search engine in that this technology takes an image file and goes through the internet scanning it with the help of crawlers and making sure it looks for matched images or the source of the image as inserted or based on the option one has input in the search bar. Given the fact that it possesses a Reverse Image Search option or Reverse Search Engine, it is used to find plagiarised work, lost connections, suspicious characters and much more. 

Recommendations To Journalists:

  • TinEye is an effective open source image search engine. Journalists can therefore use it amidst others mentioned above to be able to minimize the spread of images of doubtful origin.

To Tineye:

  • Tineye should find a way to alert its clients when their content is being used.
  • There should be sensitization on the application and its usage so that many more people can easily use the app.
  • Some images are not copyright protected and there are difficulties tracing the originator. Tineye may find a way to protect these images.
  • Tineye should make it possible to search images greater than 10mb.

Fact-check: These photos do not show ammunition confiscated by the national security yesterday

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By 211 Check Desk

Photos shared on Facebook and WhatsApp of a massive amount of ammunition and guns being transported in a casket allegedly to Pibor have been found to be FALSE.

Misleading Facebook Post

A google reverse image search on the photos show that in 2016, the photos were circulated in Nigeria media depicting a massive amount of weaponry and ammunition allegedly concealed in a casket.

It was falsely reported that a Nigerian army unit had intercepted an arms trafficking syndicate travelling between Ondo and Lagos States.

At that time, Nigeria army spokesperson said the photos were actually taken from a training exercise in 2012.

“The photos circulating were taken from a training exercise held in 2012 and it is normal to have other security agencies represented in all internal security trainings at schools or in barracks by army units,” Nigerian Army spokesman SK Usman told the Sahara Reporters on 30th March 2016.

There have also been no credible media reports in South Sudan about the photos as of Tuesday, February 1, 2022.

Conclusion:

211 Check has looked into photos allegedly of members of South Sudan national security confiscating ammunition being transported to Pibor and finds them to be 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 not sure about or don’t know where it came from.

To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/how-to-fact-check/ 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.

This image is not of a boy being sold in Sherikat, Juba211 Check

Fact-Check: This picture of a three year old boy for sale wrapped inside a rice bag is not from Sherikhat, Juba

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The picture is of an incident where a man was apprehended by the Nigeria Police Force in Akwa Ibom State after he was caught trying to sell his 3-year-old son

By 211 Check Desk

A Facebook post on Sunday, 12th December 2021 claiming that a man was caught in Sherikhat, Juba trying to sell his three year old boy wrapped inside a rice bag is FALSE

“Father was caught in Sherikhat while he was trying to sell his (3) years old son,” the post reads in part.

Misleading Post of a Boy for Sale in Sherikhat

Findings:

However, a reverse image search of the photo in the post returned several stories in September 2021 using the same picture, but of an incident that happened in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria.

“A yet to be identified man has been apprehended by the Nigeria Police Force in Akwa Ibom State after he was caught trying to sell his 3-year-old son,” reports The Paradise on September 8th, 2021

THE PARADISE gathered that the man put the child inside a rice bag and was transporting it to where he wanted to go and sell it before he was caught.

When contacted by 211 Check police in Juba say they are not aware of such an incident as alleged on Facebook.

Conclusion

211 Check finds a picture allegedly of a three year old boy for sale wrapped in a rice bag to be 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 not sure about or don’t know where it came from.

To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/how-to-fact-check/ 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.

Misleading Article Being Shared Online

Fact-Check: An article allegedly written by Louis Anei is FALSE

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211 Check Editorial Desk

An article titled “Kiir Mayar has openly shown us how much he hates his own voters in Greater Tonj by imposing his political tool Aleu Ayieny Aleu” allegedly written by Ustaz Louis Anei Madut is FALSE

The article that goes on to list about 10 points has since been dismissed by Ustaz Louis Anei Madut himself.

FALSE article being circulated in WhatsApp groups

In a Facebook post, Ustaz Louis Anei Madut said, “The purported article said to have been written by me is false! This is a concoction from my political enemies who want to put me deep into the grave but God is there alive.”

“I wish it was to be investigated as to who is the source, meanwhile I’m on my way to the village for social issues. I have nothing to do with those political concoctions.”

#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 not sure about or don’t know where it came from.

To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/how-to-fact-check/ 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.

Bentiu tv Misleading Image

Fact-Check: Do these pictures show livestock killed by floods in Bentiu? No

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These pictures showing livestock allegedly killed by floods in Bentiu, Unity State are misleading

By 211 Check Editorial Team

Pictures shared by Bentiu tv, a Facebook page with the caption, “This is how flood kills livestock in Bentiu” are FALSE

Reverse image search of the pictures leads to a story published by the Star Kenya two days ago in which raging water as a result of heavy rains at the slopes of Mt Kilimanjaro in neighbouring Tanzania killed livestock in Kenya’s Taita Taveta county.

Conclusion:

The images do not show livestock killed by floods in Bentiu, Unity State. They instead show livestock killed in Taita Taveta county, Kenya.

#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 not sure about or don’t know where it came from.To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/how-to-fact-check/ 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.

false tweet

Fact-Check: This picture does not show a rare creature killed in Rubkona, Unity State

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The image shows a creature that is reported to have been killed in South East Mauritania in July 2020

By 211 Check Editorial Team

A tweet on 25th November 2021 claiming that a rare creature was killed in Rubkona Unity State is FALSE

“I’m very disappointed in the people of Rubkona, Unity State. There was no point killing such a rare creature,” the tweet reads in part.

The tweet also claims that the species of Aardvark was only in South Sudan and that might be the last one. “Sadly dead,” the tweet added.

However, 211 Check investigations have established that the tweet claiming the rare creature was killed in South Sudan is unfounded.

Reverse image results for the image shows several cases in which the same image has been used. The earliest being on 18th July 2020 in the Batha of Al-Nama city in the state of Al-Hawd Al-Sharqi, southeast of Mauritania

According to the activists who circulated the photo at that time, the animal was killed by some citizens in Mauritania.

It should also be noted that according to National Geographic, Aardvarks occur in almost all Africa’s parks and reserves, and not only in South Sudan as claimed in the tweet.

Conclusion:

211 Check has looked into an image purportedly of a rare creature killed in Rubkona, Unity State and finds it to be 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 not sure about or don’t know where it came from.

To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/how-to-fact-check/ 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.

FEATURED IMAGE FOR THE LAPTOP SCHEME HOAX211 Check

Fact-Check: Viral Link Asking Students to Apply for Laptop Scheme 2021/22 is a Hoax

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The hoax appears to be aimed at students who do not have laptop computers. While the message is a hoax, the lack of proper access to online learning environments is all too real.

By Emmanuel Bida Thomas

According to 211 Check findings, a viral link being shared on WhatsApp claiming to be asking students to apply for laptop schemes is a hoax. The message that has gone viral on WhatsApp does not specify who is offering the laptop scheme.

The claim in the viral WhatsApp message reads, 

“The Applications for the Students Laptop Scheme 2021/22 Is Available

This scheme is open to all students who for financial reasons are not in a position to purchase a laptop of their own and are in need of laptop in their level of education

Students that can apply

-All Students can apply for the helping laptop support scheme

Eligiblity-All countries

20,000 student recieved laptop in 2020 due to covid

In 2021 Over 560,000 students will be given free laptop to enhance their learning this month

Application has began and students that have applied have started gettig their laptops

ONLY STUDENTS CAN APPLY.” 

The message includes a link to a webpage that makes a similar claim and asks students to enter their age bracket (10-50) years, full name, educational level, laptop brand, and age range.

It also claims that if a person correctly answers the question (5+1-2=?) they will be automatically qualified for the laptop.

The website prompts the user to check their eligibility by asking for their name, pretending to verify their identity, and requesting that the user share the link with WhatsApp friends and groups until “the blue bar is full.” The website redirects the user to a spam advertisement once the step is completed.

Request that the user share the link with WhatsApp friends and groups until “the blue bar is full.”

According to a website reputation checker, the website that was registered 28 days ago on 2021-10-28 and is hosted at this IP address: 209.159.145.116 has been blacklisted by several engines, including Avira, CRDF, and Fortinet.

The message or its website do not specify who is providing the laptops or to whom students are applying. Legitimate schemes usually identify the organizations that are behind them.

Conclusion:

It is not uncommon to receive WhatsApp messages containing links claiming that the recipient has won prizes such as a free expensive smartphone or simply a shoe.

One thing that all of these messages have in common is that they all require the recipient to forward it to at least a certain number of WhatsApp chats. However, the claims that accompany these links can appear genuine and difficult to dismiss, such as when they appear to be disseminating information about schemes and use official institution logos.

The above hoax appears to be aimed at students who do not have laptop computers. While the message is a hoax, the lack of proper access to online learning environments is all too real.

THIS IS NOT JUBA FREEDOM BRIDGE211 Check

Fact-Check: This image is not an aerial view of Freedom Bridge in Juba

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The image is of the Stueng Trang-Kroch Chhmar Cambodia-China Friendship Bridge, a 1,131-meter-long and 13.5-meter-wide bridge spanning across the Mekong River and connecting Kampong Cham and Tboung Khmum provinces in southeastern Cambodia.

By Emmanuel Bida Thomas

A Facebook post on Thursday, 25th November 2021 with an image purportedly of the Freedom Bridge in Juba is FALSE

“South Sudan government unveils the new Freedom Bridge in the Kator-lologo area. The bridge is soon to be open before the end of the year,” reads a post shared by Ramciel Broadcasting, a news and media page with over 18,000 followers.

Misleading Facebook post on Thursday, 25th November 2021 with an image purportedly of the Freedom Bridge in Juba

However, a reverse image search of the photo returned several of the same images used for at least two days. The image is of the Stueng Trang-Kroch Chhmar Cambodia-China Friendship Bridge, a 1,131-meter-long and 13.5-meter-wide bridge spanning across the Mekong River and connecting Kampong Cham and Tboung Khmum provinces in southeastern Cambodia.

The bridge was inaugurated on 23rd November 2021 in the Stueng Trang district of Cambodia.

Meanwhile, the Freedom Bridge, named after the independence of the Republic of South Sudan and being built with a grant from the government of Japan is slated to be opened next year on 6th of July according to the Japanese Resident Engineer Omeda Norio.

Here are latest pictures of Freedom Bridge:

Conclusion:

211 Check has looked into image purportedly of the Freedom Bridge in Juba and finds it to be 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 not sure about or don’t know where it came from.

To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/how-to-fact-check/ 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.

260370917_426395955658036_3316745237288104446_n211 Check

Fact-Check: Images of wounded man not taken from South Sudan

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By Charles Lotara

Disturbing images of a man under intensive care unit are being peddled by social media platforms with claims that the man was found unconscious in part of South Sudan.

False Information Being Peddled on Facebook

On Tuesday evening, Insight Juba, a Facebook page with over 16k followers boldly claimed that the images are those of Deng Wol Deng, a university graduate from Western Bhar-el-Ghazal State who got ambushed along Juba – Nimule Highway.

In another staggering claim, the page says the victim in the images was on his way to Eastern Equatoria to assist a group of physically challenged children when his car was attacked along the road leaving two people dead with one survivor.

With scant details of the incident and with no citation of official sources, the page called on the general public to avoid travelling along the Juba – Nimule Highway and urged security forces to provide protection.

Insight Juba, which was created in 2020, cited 64 Tribes, another Facebook page as the primary source of their story.

However, a quick search through the Facebook page of 64 Tribes in relation to the story returned no result.

There have been no official reports of armed violence along the Juba – Nimule Highway in the last two months.

A geo-location search using Pic2Map returned no EXIF data for obvious reasons. Pic2Map requires unaltered photo files in order to process the data, which is most likely not the case with this image. And, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter strip out EXIF data from uploaded photos, which is true of the images circulating.

But a Google reverse search showed that the incident the man in the picture was caught up in actually happened in Omdurman during the #ParadeNovember2021 when Sudanese took to the streets to register their displeasure with the military plot to bequeath civilian rule.

The situation led to civil unrest with an unconfirmed number of people getting either injured or killed. The images were first posted on 22/11/2021 within 6:47PM by two Twitter accounts all claiming that the man whose identity was not established at the time, was in a critical condition and admitted at Al-Waad Hospital in Omdurman, one of the most populated cities in Sudan.

But both Twitter accounts carry pseudonyms and their bios only imply that they are pro-revolution. However, this does not disqualify the possibility of the images being taken in Sudan as they first appeared on Sudanese-run Twitter platforms.

#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 not sure about or don’t know where it came from.

To learn more about our fact-checking process, go to https://211check.org/how-to-fact-check/ 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.