"BBC News Nigeria" Facebook Page Inviting People to Invest is Fake and Fraudulent (Fact-Check)
A sponsored page on Facebook with the name “BBC News Nigeria” is seeking Nigerians’ audience and asking them to invest their money for a double return on their investment, using popular Nollywood stars.
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Verdict
The page is not owned by BBC or Vanguard as its owner wants the social media audience to believe.
Besides, there is nothing like "BBC News Nigeria" whether as an existing entity or as a media house in Nigeria.
The “BBC New Nigeria” page is fake!
Full story
A fraudulent group that identified itself as “CROWD 1” has been calling on Nigerians to “register and invest” their money, promising a higher Return on Investment (ROI).
The group, which claimed it was created to provide support “both for the rich and poor” in order to help them “financially” is running its fraudulent activities with a sponsored Facebook page identified as “BBC News Nigeria.”
While assuring that investment is “100% money secured”, the page is directing interested users to join a Whatsapp group or call the admin of the “investment scheme.”
“WELCOME TO CROWD 1. To Register And Invest Click The WHATSAPP BUTTON To message CROWD 1 OR Click on the link below to message them on WhatsApp https://wa.me/2347069309314?text=Hello!%20Please%20how%20does%20this%20platform%20Works Call/WhatsApp The Admin (07069309314).
“They are 100% money secured!!! It was created to support financially is both for the rich and poor,” the post of the group read accompanied with the video showing John Okafor, a Nigerian comic thespian, popularly known as Mr Ibu.
Source: Facebook
Verification
Legit.ng conducted an overall check on the page and discovered that contrary to its name “BBC News Nigeria”, it is not an original BBC News page or a media company.
Besides, there is no single report except two videos; one of them showing a Nollywood actor, Kelvin Ikeduba, explaining why people should invest their money.
Source: Facebook
The actor, arguably, is serving as an ambassador of the ponze group identified as “Crowd 1 investment.”
This is a known culture in Nigeria whereby celebrities and social media influencers are used to sell a product, promote brands or projects or change people’s orientation towards an opinion, idea and ideology.
Using popular media’s name as clickbait
When Legit.ng checked the photo section of the page, three pictures bearing “Breaking News” were found. One of them has a striking resemblance to BBC News, a global digital news and broadcasting agency.
While it is apparently clear that the page does not belong to the real BBC, its owner, Crowd 1, uses the media organisation’s image and logo brand to serve as a clickbait. This, it is assumed, will draw the attention of targeted social media audiences to the page.
Similarly, the fraudulent attempt is to give the Ponzi scheme’s page a credibility boost, make people believe that it is owned by BBC News and lure them to the videos which, perhaps, may convince them to join the investment group.
Source: Facebook
Legit.ng notes there is no media agency in Nigeria with the name “BBC News Nigeria.” There is, however, BBC Africa, a subsidiary of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) which has its tentacles in the African continent.
In Nigeria, four languages are available on the BBC platform, namely: BBC Pidgin, BBC Hausa, BBC Igbo and BBC Yoruba. There is nothing like “BBC News Nigeria.”
This suggests that the page is bogus and clickbait.
Source: UGC
Further research unravels more!
A further search by Legit.ng showed that the Crowd 1 investment also runs another sponsored Facebook page to promote its activities, promising “double” profit of investment in two hours.
Although it uses the name “Ibitomi", the page uses the logo/favicon of Vanguard newspaper, a Nigerian news publication, for the same clickbait reason.
Source: Facebook
On the page is another video of actor, Kelvin Ikeduba, assuring prospective investors of high ROI after investment.
Part of the caption under the video reads:
“We are 100% money secure. It is an approved platform that gives you double of your investment within 2hours time. Invest now and thank me later.”
Without any iota of doubt, this is a desperate ploy to lure people into the investment scheme using all possibly available baits.
Conclusion
Apart from promising higher ROI, Ponzi or investment schemes are deploying different methods to convince social media users to join them. In the case of the one discussed above, there is a desperate attempt to mislead the social media audience using the name, image and reputation of notable media organisations.
The “BBC New Nigeria” page is fake.
Source: Legit.ng
