A fake BBC screenshot wrongly claims that Kenyans must leave the UAE

The screenshot was shared on the Group Kenya Facebook group, which has more than 1.9 million followers -- we’ve archived the post here. “Sad! Sad! Sad! Just like that, we're coming back home,” the caption reads.

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Screenshot of the fake BBC tweet, taken on May 22, 2019, as shared on Facebook

The screenshot was also posted in the closed Kenyan Facebook group Uhuru Kenyatta Supporters, which has more than 900,000 followers.

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The screenshot was also shared in the closed Facebook group Uhuru Kenyatta Supporters

A close look at the screenshot provides telling signs that it doesn’t show a real tweet -- the font does not match the one usually seen in tweets, and the text in the link is too close to the left-hand side. The text is also slightly ungrammatical, which you would not expect in a post from a major news organisation.

The post is nowhere to be seen on the @BBCBreaking Twitter account which supposedly published it, and the link given in the screenshot doesn’t work.

A text search on Google for keywords in the screenshot -- “UAE Kenya fake gold” -- also yields no sign of such a BBC story.

A BBC spokeswoman confirmed that the post was fake.

“We are aware of a fake story with BBC News branding circulating on WhatsApp about Kenya and the UAE.  The story did not originate from the BBC and is not published on any of the BBC's digital or social platforms. We advise those who access BBC News via social media to check and verify any suspicious story that purports to come from the BBC on our website,” she said.

Kenya’s ministry of foreign affairs also dismissed the claims in the screenshot as untrue.

“Don’t give fake news mileage. The story holds no water,” Edith Fortunate from the ministry press office said via a WhatsApp message.

There has been speculation in Kenya recently that diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates could take a downturn over a shipment of gold that was ordered by a Dubai-based company but confiscated at Nairobi’s airport in February.

However, the UAE's Nairobi embassy tweeted on May 20 that relations between the two countries remained strong.

The UAE Embassy in Nairobi is aware of disinformation circulating on social media recently, and can assure followers that UAE-Kenya relations remain strong and cordial. The Embassy urges all parties to refer to official channels for diplomatic updates. pic.twitter.com/S0oBuRN4y3

— UAE Embassy Nairobi (@uaeembassynai) May 20, 2019

Kenyan investigators suspect local fraudsters of scamming wealthy Middle Eastern buyers in a complex fraud scheme involving gold.

EDIT: This post was updated on May 22, 2019 to remove the name of the BBC
spokeswoman and to add the tweet from the UAE's embassy in Nairobi.