Fake accounts use name of UN agency in East African money scam

The purported payment notifications were shared on a Facebook group called “UNICEF Foundation Promotion” from December 2023 to February 2024 by several accounts that appear to be part of a coordinated campaign.

“This promotion by the AFRICA FOUNDATION FUND IS REAL. Thank you UNICEF for helping people,” reads one of the posts published on the page in Swahili and English on January 17, 2024. This post has since been deleted. 

“If your interested please inbox me I connect you, this is legit promotion with 100% proofs. you will receive KSH 65,000 INSTANTLY (sic).” The figure in Kenyan shillings equates to about US$450.

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Screenshot showing the false post, taken on February 16, 2024

Another post was published in the group by an account in the name of Mashirima Kapomber, a popular media personality in Kenya.

But Kapomber told AFP Fact Check it was not hers. “I am not aware of such a promotion. Here is my Facebook account, but I have seen several others created under my name by people I don’t  know.”

Posts published elsewhere on Facebook included similar screenshots here and here.

The captions on the screenshots thank “UNICEF Foundation” for the “payment”, and are from people claiming to have received different amounts via mobile money transfer. 

The posts also ask users to send direct messages for more information. Some include a WhatsApp link or a mobile phone number purported to belong to UNICEF.

However, two people who responded to the adverts told AFP Fact Check they were victims of a scam.

Fraud victims 

A Facebook user by the name of Didimish Omary told AFP Fact Check: “I was asked to pay Kenya Shillings 999 (US$7) promotion money processing fee.”

This fee was meant to unlock a larger payment from UNICEF.

“However, I was deceived. I did not receive the money promised and never heard from them again,” Omary added.

A second victim, Ainomugisha Victor from Uganda, raised the alarm on Facebook, commenting that people associated with the “UNICEF Foundation Promotion” Facebook account fraudulently obtained money from him.

“UNICEF foundation promotion, I just need you to refund my money back (sic),” he wrote on January 26, 2024.

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Screenshot showing the victim''s Facebook post, taken on February 17, 2024

Contacted by AFP Fact Check, Victor said he also paid a “processing fee” in order to receive money from UNICEF, but the promised funds never arrived.

Social media swindle

A look at UNICEF’s websites and social media accounts in Kenya and Uganda did not yield any information about a cash promotion. 

AFP Fact Check contacted Dan Oloo, a spokesperson for UNICEF Kenya, who confirmed that the so-called promotion was a “scam”.

“UNICEF is aware of a fake promotion on social media in Kenya. The scammers falsely promise cash payment to participants,” Oloo said. 

“Please be advised that this is not a UNICEF activity and should be ignored. Do not share personal information or make payments in response to this fake promotion,” he cautioned social media users.

Page transparency information on the official UNICEF Kenya Facebook page shows that it was created on December 20, 2011 (archived here). 

On the other hand, the imposter page was created on December 26, 2023 by a Facebook user called “Icon Mush”.