HOAX: This Facebook post advertising jobs at Bidco Africa is a scam
A Facebook post advertising jobs at fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturer Bidco Africa is a HOAX.
“BIDCO AFRICA COMPANY IS CURRENTLY RECRUITING ATLEAST, 7000 WORKERS ACROSS ALL COUNTY IN KENYA,” the message declares.
The available opportunities, according to the post, include those for office messengers and cleaners, receptionists and secretaries, guards and machine operators, drivers and marketers, loaders and warehouse supervisors, packagers, distributors, and storekeepers.
The positions attract a salary package ranging from KSh26,000 to KSh32,000.
Curiously, the requisite qualifications are basic — one must be aged 18 years and above, fluent in English, Kiswahili, and a local language.
Applications should be sent to a provided WhatsApp number, which is not the standard practice.
Nevertheless, PesaCheck reached out as instructed and established that the recruiter further requires job seekers to provide personal information, including their location and what they currently do for a living.
A look through the careers page on Bidco Africa’s website shows that the company had no open positions by the time of publishing this article. A message on the website also expressly cautions the public from applying for jobs not listed therein.
“Bidco Africa invites you to apply for the Vacancies listed and advertised on our Website,” the message reads.
Bidco Africa, through a Facebook post on 8 February 2023, flagged the jobs advertisement in question as fake.
PesaCheck has examined the Facebook post advertising jobs at fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) manufacturer Bidco Africa and found 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 senior fact-checker Simon Muli and edited by PesaCheck senior copy editor Cédrick Irakoze and acting chief copy editor Francis Mwaniki.
The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck’s 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.