IN SHORT: This Facebook page promises Kenyans quick loans of different amounts. But it is one of the many fake pages looking to defraud desperate people.
The Facebook page ABZ pesa loan has been trying to convince Kenyans that it offers the quickest loans with the least conditions in the country.
The page claims that users can access up to KSh200,000 (about US$1,500) in loans for business, school fees and rent.
It further claims the loans are sent via M-Pesa, a mobile financial service by Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecoms company. It allows users to send and receive money on their mobile phones.
The page invites interested users to call or send a message to the phone number provided.
It has reposted its adverts many times on Facebook groups with thousands of members, attracting significant engagement, including inquiries from interested users.
But how legit are these loan offers? We checked.
Fake page and offers
We noted that the page relied on only one screenshot of an M-Pesa message as proof of loan disbursement to its clients. If the page’s business was genuine, it would’ve shown other disbursements of different amounts to different clients.
Legitimate businesses usually include a brief description of their operations and a link to their website or app in the introduction section of their Facebook page. However, this business does not have a website or app and asks applicants to call or reach out via WhatsApp. This is a clear red flag.
While legit businesses rely on professionally designed graphics to advertise their products, this page uses images of bundles of money and a screenshot of an M-Pesa message. The images and the screenshot do not have its logo. This is uncharacteristic of social media accounts run by an authorised financial services provider.
The page has republished its ads thousands of times across Facebook groups. This is a common trend among fake accounts and pages running bogus ads and desperate for attention.
We contacted the page and were told that NCBA, a Kenyan bank, sponsored the loans. However, we did not find the advert on the bank’s website or its Facebook and X pages. Furthermore, the number listed on the suspicious page cannot be found on the bank’s website.
All signs point to a fake page with bogus loan offers.
Source: www.africacheck.org
