Tag Archive for: #Misinformation

Fact-check: Photo showing two wives of a police officer who gave birth on the same day?

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The photos used in the claim were taken in October 2020 at a hospital in Kapoeta county, Eastern Equatoria State, of two women who gave birth to triplets three weeks apart, not on the same day. 

Writer: Ochaya Jackson

A Facebook post by Kampala Today on the 13th October, 2022, claimed that a police officer impregnated his two wives and they at the same time gave birth to triplets citing each with two girls, and one boy.

The post which did not mention the name, and the location of the police officer is false.

“Apolice officer impregnated his two wives and they coincidentally gave birth on the same day, each having triplets (two girls and one boy each). What a blessing!!”, the post reads.

The post garnered over one thousand comments, sixty nine shares, and about two thousand reactions.

The screen shot of the Facebook post page

The East African Vibes Facebook page carried the same false claim referring also to the unknown police officer. And it received over seven hundred comments, almost two thousand reactions, and fifty shares.

The screen shot of the post

Earlier the social media Facebook page of Kenyan Report referenced the claim to a man who it said “impregnated his two wives and they coincidentally gave birth on the same day, each having triplets”, which is false. Here there are over five hundred reactions, four hundreds comments, and twenty eight shares.

This is the screen shot

And on 9th, Oct, 2022 Juba TV published on its website headlining that a “Kapoeta woman gives birth to six babies, four boys and two girls”, which appeared to have manipulated the falsehood trend on the triplets story.

Findings:

211 Check discovered, however, that the photo accompanying the claim was reported with a story by Hot in Juba in October 2020, of two women in Kapoeta South County hospital of Eastern Equatoria State who each gave birth to triplets three weeks apart.

“Two women in Kapoeta may have set record of some kind after they gave birth to triplets just 3 weeks apart. The birth of [two] triplets four boys and two girls went viral after a member of the family posted pics of the triplets while still in [h]ospital”, Hot in Juba reported that time.

In addition, Eye Radio reported in October 2020 about another man who abandoned his wife in Kapoeta hospital after she gave birth to triplets (two boys and one girl).

Conclusion:

211 Check has found that the claim of a police officer’s wives having given birth to triplets is false. The photos used in the claim were taken in October 2020 at a hospital in Kapoeta county, Eastern Equatoria State, of two women three weeks apart, not on the same day, after they each gave birth to triplets.

Fact-check: Can drinking hot lemon water cure cancer? Not scientifically proven

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Writer: Ochaya Jackson

A widely circulated WhatsApp message claiming that drinking hot lemon water can cure cancer is false.

The message, which warns people against using conventional cancer treatments and claims that mixing lemon fruit with hot water “is 1,000 times better than chemotherapy,” was attributed to Dr. Guru Prasad Reddy BV, who claimed to be a professor at Osh State Medical University in Moscow, Russia.

Screenshot of the claim posted on Facebook

“Screening will not and cannot lower the cancer cases. There are very many people who are going to India. A friend who has been going to India for the last three years because of cancer told me 50% of people in the cancer clinics in India are usually Africans (Kenya/Uganda) etc. Sadly, many don’t make it even after these treatments, this is the bit that we are never told,” reads part of the message on social media.

“Blend a whole lemon fruit with a cup of hot water and drink it for about 1-3 months first thing before food and cancer would disappear, research by Maryland College of Medicine says, it’s 1000 times better than chemotherapy”, the message adds.

Is this true? 211 Check investigates the claims made in the WhatsApp message:

211 Check established that Dr. Guru Prasad Reddy is a specialist in plastic surgery at Apollo Spectra Hospitals, Hyderabad-Kondapur in India, not professor at Osh State Medical University in Russia.

And Osh State Medical University is a public University in Kyrgyzstan not in Moscow-Russia as claimed. The link is here

And 211 Check found no publicly available research published about lemon treating cancer by University of Maryland, College of Medicine. And lemon is not even in clinical trials as a medicine for cancer at the University.

In 2017, the claim was posted on a Facebook page by Home Ayurvedic remedied which garnered 102 comments, and 280 shares was also referenced to have been written by Dr. Guru Prasad Reddy. The link is here

The same message was also shared many years back and attributed to several doctors from different countries and institutions which some of them debunked as fake and said the claim was completely false.

AFP published a fact-check in August 2021 on the same claim as false which at that time was attributed to Chief Executive Professor Chen Horin from Beijing Military Hospital who according to AFP the professor was faked.

“This matter is very important..…lemon slices in a glass of hot water can save you for the rest of your life. Hot lemon water kills cancer cells. Cut a lemon into three pieces and put them in a cup. Then pour hot water in it. It’s done (alkaline water). Drinking it on a daily basis will give special benefits”, AFP quoted a post on Facebook in 2018 which was shared 125,000 times as said by Professor Chen Horin. 

However, AFP found out that the real chief physician Chen Huiren at Beijing Military Hospital name was the one faked in the claim, not Horin.

A cancer specialist at Bangladesh Cancer Society Hospital, Prof Dr Golam Mohiuddin Faruque, who was quoted by AFP said the claim was a hoax but said lemon can prevent some types of cancer however, not cure.

“No one can say hot lemon water…..can cure cancer and such claims have no scientific basis. There are different types of cancers and many of these have their own ways of treatment but drinking hot lemon water is definitely not among them. Citrus fruits including lemon sometimes can have some positive impact in preventing certain types of cancers but that’s not a treatment.” he was quoted as saying by AFP.

Scientific facts:

The lemon cure claim for cancer has been also disputed by the National Center for Health Research as untrue after modified citrus pectin – a carbohydrate in the peels of citrus fruits studied with humans’ prostate cancer was unsuccessful.

And it said limonoids chemical found in citrus peels has proved ineffective in preventing cancer in human beings.

Dr. Manish Singhal termed the claim as myth but it is a good idea to have lemon either in hot or cold water because it will keep one very hydrated by washing toxins and acids in the stomach. However, thinking that it can cure cancer is not true.

Cancer Research UK in 2013 has also clarified that “there’s no scientific evidence to show that lemon juice can cure cancer, despite what is on the internet”. 

And the U.S. National Centre for Health Research, “lemons are not a “proven remedy against cancers of all types,” and no studies have ever been done that would compare the effectiveness of a lemon to chemotherapy.”

There is currently no World Health Organization (WHO) factsheet on lemon curing cancer in patients, and what is circulating on the internet about lemon hot water curing cancer remains just a hypothesis not scientifically proven.

Conclusion:

211 Check investigated posts on lemon hot water curing cancer that have been going on for years in various platforms, with others claiming that the lemon is 10,000, 10, and 1,000 times more effective than chemotherapy are unproven. And because no scientific studies have proven the claim to be true, it remains a health myth.

Fact-check: Does mGurush charge clients for deposits? No, it doesn’t

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Writer: Beatrice Amude

A tweet by a Twitter user on 6th October 2022 claimed that m_Gurush, a mobile money platform in South Sudan charges clients for cash deposits.

“I heard mGurush charges for cash deposit. A  messed up strategy in every aspect,” the tweet reads.

The tweet got attention of tweeps including a tweet reply that seems to confirm that claim.

“Non agents do charge ones when depositing money, but m_Gurush main outlets DO NOT charge on deposit,” a tweep said in a tweet reply.

Screenshot of the false claim on Twitter

We contacted both an mGurush agent and client to know their experience when depositing.

Lucky Charles, owner of Jami General Trading and Investment Company Limited and an agent for mGurush, tells 211 Check that clients are not charged when depositing money into their mGurush wallets over a private line, but mGurush charges when withdrawing cash.

Lucky Charles said, “For us as agents,when we sent money to private line,we are not charged and they can not charged the private line,unless the private line wanted to withdraw money.’’

Caesar Lemi, a mGurush client, stated that he deposited money into his account yesterday without incurring any fees.

‘’ Even yesterday, I deposited money to my mGurush account without any charges,’’ Lemi told 211 Check

He told 211 Check that this claim is false, but mGurush agents tell him that they do not have money when he normally wants to withdraw cash.

mGurush replies

“No, we do not charge for cash deposits,” mGurush said in a reply to 211 Check when asked via messenger.

“Please report any agent who charges for deposit. We have tariff guides displayed and also our service charges are shown on your confirmation screen when withdrawing,” it said on Twitter.

Conclusion:

211 Check finds the claim that mGurush charges for cash deposits false.

Fact-check: This is a phishing scam 

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Writer: Ochaya Jackson

A WhatsApp link purporting to be the “Sweden Sponsorship Visa and Job Portal” for an opportunity for Sweden visa sponsorship jobs is false.

The claim encourages international applicants to apply for visa sponsorship jobs in Sweden in 2023. And it employs two distinct links, each of which leads to the same form used to collect personal information, which is a phishing scam.

Screenshot of WhatsApp message with phishing link

The claim employs a predatory strategy to entice victims to complete the application processes as quickly as possible by stating that “the number of applicants is limited….continue.”

And conditions that applicants share with five WhatsApp groups or fifteen WhatsApp friends before being directed to the visa form webpage, with the promise of receiving a confirmation email within 24 hours.

Screenshot of the fake webpage with spelling errors

Screenshot of the ‘application form’ wanting personal details

This ‘continue’ prompt that pops up after form filling

Page requiring applicants to share to more WhatsApp users

But, is this call legitimate? 211 Check takes a look into it here:

The page has spelling and grammar errors which are unusual of an official site. Besides, the website has only a single page and lacks pages like “About Us” or “Contact Us”

The official website for candidates interested in working in the European is EURES, a European cooperation network of employment services, designed to facilitate the free movement of workers. The network has always worked hard to ensure that European citizens can benefit from the same opportunities, despite language barriers, cultural differences, bureaucratic challenges, diverse employment laws and a lack of recognition of educational certificates across Europe.

Opportunities Corners is also a legitimate broad & wide opportunities discovery platform for youth all around the world. They recently published an article about seven Swedish based companies that are sponsoring visas for foreign workers which among them include; Assa Abloy, Ericsson, H&M, IKEA, Spotify, Google Sweden, and Apple Sweden. The link is here

Conclusion:

Scammers are exploiting people online by mirroring or impersonating the original opportunities under false pretense. Their goal is to gather personal information such as people’s contacts, emails, addresses, and country of origin.

Fact-check: This is not the way to apply for the UN Volunteer Program

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Writer: Ochaya Jackson

A Facebook post advertisement run by a page called “Application Date” in the media/news company category about the United Nations Volunteer Program 2022, a fully funded international volunteer program, encouraging people to apply, is false.

Since September 5, 2022, the post has received over 3,400 interactions, 1,800 comments, and 140 comments.

Is it necessary for a United Nations Volunteer Program applicant to communicate with the “Application Date” Facebook page in order to apply? No, and here is why:

When one clicks apply for jobs on the page, it takes them to a messenger chat box with the page, where they receive a suspicious message saying, “Congratulations! …..you have qualified to apply for a job in Canada or the United States, please apply using the link provided.”

Pop up message when one clicks “apply”

They then provide a link to Nguniversities.com, which claims to be an educational website established with the goal of providing quality and reliable information about every institution and scholarship opportunities; however, it is not the official website for the UN Volunteers Program.

The NG Universities website includes a web page menu bar with various categories and/or programs such as scholarships, study abroad, international jobs, and internships.

There is no open link for the UN Volunteer program 2022 unless one searches the menu bar on the NG Universities’ website, where it directs to the expired UN Volunteer program 2022, which was posted on September 25th, 2021.

Screenshot of the Nguniversities.com website 

There are also links to other categories from various UN agencies, including other institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which was posted on August 22, 2022. UN volunteer programs and internships are among the categories.

Where can one obtain reliable information about the UN Volunteer Program?

The right United Nations Volunteers (UNV), a program administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) can be got on their website: https://www.unv.org/

UN Volunteer assignments are advertised on its Unified Volunteering Platform. In order for interested candidates to apply for assignments, they need to register in the UN Global Talent Pool.

“You can visit this page if you wish to register in our Global Talent Pool to become a UN Volunteer,” UN Volunteers states on its website.

Conclusion:

While it is true that opportunities for the UN Volunteers program exist, the procedures with which the Application Date Facebook page advertises and directs the applicants is false.

Fact-check: Is Ecobank offering 100,000 pounds for free? No, it is a scam and should not be interacted with

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Writer: Ochaya Jackson

A claim that has been making the rounds on WhatsApp groups that Ecobank’s National Government Subsidies campaign is offering internet users the chance to win up to 100,000 South Sudanese Pounds (SSP) after correctly answering four questions, is a hoax.

“Do you know Ecobank?” one of the questions asks. “What age are you?” “What are your thoughts on Ecobank?” “Also, are you male or female?”

Despite being warned that the link is a phishing scam, several users have continued to share it in WhatsApp groups and with their contacts. This is a phishing scam, in which people pose as trustworthy companies or organizations in order to obtain personal information from victims.

Screenshot of the unrelated site’s homepage

After answering all of the questions, one is supposedly eligible to win prizes, but it then instructs people to share with five groups or twenty WhatsApp friends as conditions before claiming the prize, which is supposed to arrive within five to seven days, according to the claim.

Screenshot of a congratulatory message on the site

These links, however, are phishing scams. An investigation by 211 Check discovered that the claim is a scam from an entity or individual who is not the real Ecobank Group, and you should not click or interact with them.

A search on Google and the Ecobank Group website for National Government Subsidies yielded the result “No match found.”

Screenshot showing search results for “Ecobank National Government Subsidies”

According to publicly available information on the Ecobank Group’s website, the website where the claim about the Ecobank offer is posted does not match with the true website features of the Ecobank Group. The official Ecobank website is: https://ecobank.com/. 

The same offer has also not been shared on the social media accounts for Ecobank on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or LinkedIn.

211 Check also used Virustotal to examine the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) and discovered that the URL link of the claim is flagged as dangerous by five security vendors (BitDefender, G-Data, Webroot, Fortinet, and Kaspersky) as malicious [malicious, malware, and for phishing].

Screenshot of the analysis by virus total

Whois Record of the phising link versus Ecobank website:

The Ecobank domain was registered in January 1998, while the phishing link was registered in July 2022. It is always a red flag when a site was created around the time it went viral.

Screenshot showing domain information for Ecobank

Screenshot showing domain information for the phishing website

Conclusion:

211 Check concludes that there is no offer of such kind going on with the Ecobank Group.

The links being shared are scams. You should not click or interact with them. This sort of scam is called a phishing scam, which is where people pretend to be trustworthy companies or organisations in order to get personal information from victims.

Criminals use publicly available information about you online (including social media sites) to make their phishing messages more convincing.

You can reduce your chances of being phished by considering what personal information you (and others) post about yourself, as well as reviewing your privacy settings on your social media accounts.

Recognising a scam

It might be a scam if:

  • it seems too good to be true – for example, a holiday that’s much cheaper than you’d expect 
  • someone you don’t know contacts you unexpectedly
  • you suspect you’re not dealing with a real company – for example, if there’s no postal address
  • you’ve been asked to transfer money quickly
  • you’ve been asked to pay in an unusual way – for example, by Mobile Money or through a transfer service like MoneyGram or Western Union
  • you’ve been asked to give away personal information like passwords or PINs
  • you haven’t had written confirmation of what’s been agreed

Fact-check: Photo showing an incident involving South Sudanese in Kenya? No

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Writer: Jibi Moses

A Facebook post published by Sixty 4 Tribes Press claiming that dozens of South Sudanese were injured during a community association election petition in Kenya is false.

“Dozens were injured during the Warrap State Community Association election petition in Kenya after one of the candidates was cornered by goons hired by an embassy official,” partly reads the post shared on Monday, 3rd October 2022.

The Facebook post was also followed with a lot of hashtags which is a red flag for potential disinformation campaign.

The article as put by the page.

An official at the Embassy of South Sudan in Nairobi dismissed the news as false. He said there was no Warrap Community Association election held around the time of the report. 

211 Check also ran a Google reverse image search of the picture used in the post, and the results showed that the image was first used by a Kenyan Newspaper, Business Daily in an article “Tycoon’s Sons in vicious fight for control of Nairobi Ambassadeur hotel” published on Wednesday, January 18th, 2017.

The same image as used in 2017

Conclusion:

211 Check finds the Facebook post claiming that dozens South Sudanese were injured during a community association election petition in Kenya false. The Embassy of South Sudan in Nairobi dismissed the news as false and the image used in the post is of unrelated event in 2017.

Fact-check: Photo showing a signpost with a “Juba City Council” inscription? No, it is edited

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Writer: Emmanuel Bida Thomas

A Facebook post shared by a user on 30 September 2022 with the caption “No comments.” that appears to show a signpost with the inscription “Juba City Council” is false.

Nearly 50 people interacted with the photo, which received 18 comments and six shares. Some Facebook users, such as this one, also reposted it.

But does this photograph have anything to do with Juba or South Sudan? We double-check it:

Screenshot of misleading signpost

A reverse image search yields results for the alleged signpost, which has been a long-running internet meme with trends on Facebook and Twitter. The original post does not specify a location, but it has recently been photoshopped to imply that it is in Juba.

The photograph first appeared on this Indian website on Wednesday, December 19, 2018, with no caption. Byta FM Zambia, a Facebook page in the Radio station category, posted it in September 2019 with the caption “Keep your environment clean.”

The same signpost photo was also posted here and here.

Original photo without “Juba city Council” writing

Conclusion:

The photograph with the inscription “Juba City Council” has been altered. The original photo, which was first shared on an Indian website in December 2018, does not have such writing.

Fact-check: This incomplete document is not the official list of winners for the East African Legislative Assembly seats 

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Writer: Emmanuel Bida Thomas

South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation (SSBC), a state-owned broadcaster, announced on Saturday, October 1, 2022, on its Facebook page that the speaker of the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU) reshuffled a list of elected members of parliament to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) who were elected on Friday, September 30, 2022, citing an incomplete document.

The post was deleted moments later.

Screenshot of SSBC News Facebook post deleted moments later

Incomplete document cited by SSBC News

The document from the Speaker’s office was used to formally announce the results of all candidates, including those who lost. The announcement follows the original list of verified candidates. On the original list of verified candidates, each candidate was assigned a number.

Document showing original list of candidates

Election result for the 26 candidates as displayed on the assembly’s projector screen

The successful candidates were announced, and the Revitalized Transitional National Legislature confirmed the election of nine MPs to represent the country at the East African Legislative Assembly, or EALA, late on Friday.

On the same day, the clerk of the assembly listed finalists in a letter to the Secretary General of the East African Community.

Finalists in a letter addressed to the Secretary General of the East African Community

Conclusion:

211 Check considers the SSBC news post, which was later deleted, misleading. The news outlet cited an incomplete document.

Fact-check: Money impounded from a minister’s wife in Khartoum, Sudan? No, it is an old video

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The video footage is from an unrelated event in December 2021.

Writer: Emmanuel Bida

According to video footage circulating on social media and first published by a Facebook user, the wife of a South Sudanese minister was apprehended at Khartoum International Airport with millions of dollars in UN boxes today. This is false because it is an old video.

The post received over 100 interactions, including more than 50 shares and several comments.

“It is not surprising that the Minister’s wife was caught red-handed officially by Sudan Intelligence Security Agencies traveling from South Sudan with millions of dollars in boxes and has been arrested at the Khartoum International Airport (KIA) in Sudan with about $ 20 million USD in boxes marked UN,” partly reads the post that was re-shared by African press and Juba South Sudan, Facebook pages that are known for sharing false and misleading content recently.

Some social media users also shared the same video with the claim here and here.

Screenshot of the false video footage

The video, however, is quite old. A Facebook search returns versions of the same video from December 2021, claiming that $300 million in smuggled money from Sudan to South Sudan was seized at Juba International Airport. It was also used in connection with an allegation that more than $300 million USD was confiscated at Juba International Airport in December 2021.

Conclusion:

A claim that money was impounded from a minister’s wife in Khartoum, Sudan, is found to be false by 211 Check. The video is from a separate event in December 2021.