IN SHORT: This Facebook page would have you believe that it is run by Kenyan president William Ruto. But beware, all the loan offers on the page are bogus.
The Facebook accounts Ex William Rutoh, Hon Williams Ruto and Hons Williams Rutoh have been advertising loans from Zenka, a digital lender operating in Kenya.
The accounts use the name and photos of Kenyan president William Ruto.
A post that has appeared in each of the accounts on different dates in January 2023, read: “Kama utaka loan kwa zenka loan andika number yako na KAUNTI yenye unatokea sai ama utupigie 0110883255.”
This roughly translates to: “If you need a loan from Zenka loan, write your phone number and your county of origin now or call us on 0110883255.”
They have made other offers here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.
But are the accounts and their offers to be trusted? We checked.
Imposter Facebook accounts
The accounts’ misspelling of Ruto’s name is the first red flag. His name is William Ruto and not “William Rutoh”, “Williams Ruto” or “Williams Rutoh” as per each of the accounts.
Their ads are poorly written, often containing glaring grammatical errors, misspelt words and random capitalisation. It is unlikely that a social media account representing Kenya’s president would be so unprofessional.
It is also unlikely that the president of the country would advertise the business of a digital lending institution and ask Facebook users to contact him privately.
The accounts have also posted screenshots purporting to show users confirming that they have received the loans. But the fact that they are repeated in every post, and no fresh screenshots of new payments are shown, is suspicious.
Facebook allows public figures such as Ruto to verify their pages on the platform, which then carry the “blue tick” verification badge.
President Ruto’s official Facebook page – William Samoei Ruto – is verified, but the accounts offering the loans are not. His verified page does not mention any loan offers or promotions and publishes well-written messages.
The Facebook accounts are fake and should be avoided.
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