First Lady’s Office warns against social media scams
The Office of the First Lady has warned against the fraudulent use of the name of the First Lady on social media.
The Office this week in a statement said the public must not engage or entertain any person on Facebook pretending to be “Monica Geingos”. Throughout the year they have seen a marked increase in face accounts in the name of “Monica Geingos” on social media platforms, particularly Facebook.
In the statement it was said that these fraudulent accounts send out “friend requests” where, upon acceptance, speak as if they are the First Lady of Namibia (FLON) and make all types of claims and promises.
FLON added that the details of the claims may change but the modus operadi remains the same, as they always want the Facebook friend to deposit money into their accounts before the promise is fulfilled. The Office of the First Lady has a verified account which is named “Monica Geingos, The First Lady of Namibia”, which has a blue verification tick.
Even though the Office issues regular warning to the public to guard against fake accounts, they are still dismayed that these warning appear to have no impact as an increasing number of people have been defrauded by these fake accounts.
According to FLON, the office does not have a private Facebook account nor does she personally engage individuals on Facebook.
Meanwhile,the public is also informed that to make their face accounts look genuine, the fraudsters often mirror their real account by taking every single post and posting it on their fake account or they use FLON’s pictures to make it seem like it is her account.
The Officehas since been working closely with NamPol on fraudulent accounts for over 18 months and they are of the view that there is a critical need for increased capacity in the cybercrime Division as well as supporting legislation.
