Summary: A viral link has surfaced with a message claiming that President Joseph Boakai is celebrating his first 100 days in office with a free offer of 10GB and a US$10 card voucher. We tested the link and found it to be fake.
In recent days, a viral link has been making rounds on social media (WhatsApp) with a message that President Joseph Boakia is giving free data and recharging vouchers as part of an effort to celebrate his 100 days in office.
The claim surfaced days after Pres. Boakai addressed the nation on his first 100 days in office.
The claim
“100 days in office celebration, President Joseph Bokai is giving free 10 GB data and 10usd card voucher gifts.”
Rating justification
To authenticate this claim, Local Voices Liberia‘s (LVL) fact-checking desk first checked the official Facebook pages of the Liberian President including the Executive Mansion page on Facebook and the website but did not see any pronouncement about free data or vouchers.
LVL Fact-checker decided to test the link by clicking on it.
Upon clicking on the link, it takes our team member to a site containing the photo of Pres. Boakai and Ms. Morie Y. Nemah. Beneath the photo was a form containing the logos of Lonestar Cell MTN and Orange Liberia.
The form contains a box that requests beneficiaries to insert their contact and choose the GMS company of their choice. We then filled in the form but was asked to share the link with 6 groups or 15 friends on WhatsApp to ‘proceed’ to the next stage.
LVL then shared the viral link with several groups and people and was taken to the next stage qualifying our fact-checker to benefit from the ‘free gift’ with several options including: Activate Now, Get It, Report Issues, and Get Free Data.
However, upon clicking on “Activate Now” our team member was automatically taken to another betting site and did not receive any data or card voucher.
Conclusion
Based on our research, we therefore conclude that the viral link with a claim that Pres. Joseph Nyumah Boakai is giving free data and recharging vouchers as part of an effort to celebrate his 100 days in office is fake.
There is no information on any of the official pages of the President about any free offer of data or voucher. Please be warned that this this link intends to steal your personal information and use it for malicious purposes.
This report is produced with funding from the USAID Media Activity. The funder has No say in the editorial decisions leading to the production of this content.