Rédaction Africa Links 24 with Jibi Moses
Published on 2024-03-01 16:46:12
A Facebook page claiming to be associated with South Sudan’s Ministry of Trade and Industry and offering opportunities to entrepreneurs is actually an impersonator attempting to scam unsuspecting individuals. This page, which has 34 likes and 265 followers, purports to be a government organization but lacks genuine reviews. It uses images of the Minister of Trade and Industry, William Anyoun Kuol, as well as pictures of other diplomats in the country, including President Salva Kiir Mayardit.
The most recent post on the page solicits funding supposedly provided by the Ministry in collaboration with the World Bank for all entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country. They claim that the project is designed to support entrepreneurs and require individuals to fill out a form linked in the post. The form, titled “Citizen Economic Empowerment Program,” asks for basic information and the reasons why the funds are needed, with logos of the World Bank and entrepreneurs’ organizations displayed at the end.
Upon conducting a keyword search on Facebook for the Ministry of Trade and Industry – South Sudan, two pages with the same name were discovered. The legitimate page, Ministry of Trade and Industry – Republic of South Sudan, was created on December 23, 2023, and has 2.5k likes and 2.6k followers. This page provides contact details and location information and explicitly states that it is a government organization. On January 23, 2024, the page issued a disclaimer denouncing the fraudulent funding opportunity and labeling it as fake and a scam.
In contrast, the fraudulent page claiming to be the Ministry of Trade and Industry – Republic of South Sudan was created on January 20, 2024, but only has 34 likes and 265 followers. Scammers often use such tactics to collect personal information from unsuspecting individuals for malicious purposes, ranging from hacking to selling the data to other parties.
In conclusion, it is essential to verify the authenticity of online opportunities before providing any personal information or engaging with unknown entities. The official Ministry of Trade and Industry page has distanced itself from the fraudulent impostor and warned the public about its illegitimacy. It is crucial to exercise caution and diligence when encountering similar schemes on social media platforms to avoid falling victim to scams.
Read the original article on Talk of Juba
