HOAX: This Facebook page posting content as Co-operative Bank of Kenya is fake
A Facebook page branded as the Co-operative Bank of Kenya and posting content regarding the lender’s products and services is a HOAX.
The page has several posts on different Co-op Bank products. Among the posts is one that urges users to send any challenges they have encountered while using the financial institution’s ATM cards for payments, via direct message.
In a separate post, users are urged to join a financial literacy class but they are not provided with any instructions on how to join the said class.
But, does the page belong to Co-op Bank? We did some research and established that the lender runs an official account bearing the name “Co-op Bank Kenya” on Facebook and Twitter.
On both social media platforms, Co-op Bank’s pages are verified.
Besides, we found a post on the financier’s verified Facebook page distancing itself from the page we are debunking.
The bank also cautioned its customers against sharing their information and transacting with the imposter page.
“Dear customer, our attention has been drawn to a Facebook Account with the handle: @Mco-op CashApp posing as an official account of the Co-operative Bank of Kenya. We take this chance to inform our customers that we have NO ASSOCIATION with this account,” the bank posted.
“Don’t disclose your information or transact with this fake account. Our official Facebook page is verified
please always check for this. The bank will bear NO RESPONSIBILITY for anyone who is scammed on the page,” it cautioned.
PesaCheck has looked into a Facebook page impersonating the Co-operative Bank of Kenya and posting content regarding the lender’s products and services and finds it to be a HOAX.
This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms.
By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organisations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds.
Have you spotted what you think is fake or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content.
This fact-check was written by PesaCheck Fact-Checker Rodgers Omondi and edited by PesaCheck Senior Copy Editor Cédrick Irakoze and acting chief copy editor Francis Mwaniki.
The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck managing editor Doreen Wainainah.
PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water / sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org.
PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie, in partnership with a coalition of local African media and other civic watchdog organisations.