This Facebook page doesn’t belong to US televangelist, free cash giveaway is a scam
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on June 22, 2020 at 17:51
- Updated on June 29, 2020 at 13:49
- 2 min read
- By AFP Ethiopia, Amanuel NEGUEDE
Copyright © AFP 2017-2025. Any commercial use of this content requires a subscription. Click here to find out more.
The Facebook post, archived here, has been shared more than 700 times in Ethiopia since its publication on June 10, 2020.
“ATTENTION..! I will randomly pick people on Facebook and this is official (without fraud). Choose the first letter of your name and you will receive a gift of your choice. Do it now with faith,” reads the post, which features a photo of Meyers.
According to the post, Facebook users could win up to $7 million by following a series of steps described in the publication.
How does the scam work?
Users are being asked to type the first letter of their name in the comment section. Each letter is associated with a cash price.
The post then encourages people to share the game widely to raise the chances of winning.
“Share this post with 5-10 groups now. The more you share, the more likely you will win, and our team will send money 60 minutes after completing your data correctly. Don't ignore, this is your chance to be a winner.” the post claims.
Many of the hundreds of comments left below the post seem to take the game seriously.
However, the page is a bogus account and the Joyce Meyer Ministries refuted being behind the publication.
“This is definitely a scam,” the ministry told AFP Fact Check, adding that “they do not entertain these kinds of offers”.
By doing a simple search on Facebook, AFP Fact Check quickly located the real account of Joyce Meyer Ministries with nearly 12 million followers.
According to Facebook’s page transparency section, the confirmed page owners are indeed the Joyce Meyer Ministries, based in Fenton, Missouri.
The page was created on September 9, 2008, and its name has never changed since.
Meanwhile, the page transparency information provided by Facebook shows that the bogus page was created with the name “Bima Dinataa” on February 21, 2020, and then changed to “Joyce Meyer BD” on June 10, 2020.
The 'About' section features an Indonesian phone number rather than an American one. AFP Fact Check tried to call the number multiple times but it was disconnected.
Is there content that you would like AFP to fact-check? Get in touch.
Contact us
