Facts and Fiction: Fake post on offer of financial grants for businesses

News
The Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development  has dismissed the above claim as false, attributing it to criminal elements who were running a fake Facebook page.   

Claim: A Facebook account operating as the Department of Small and Medium Enterprises Development-Zimbabwe posted a notice calling on entrepreneurs seeking financial support to apply for grants through its department.

Is this true or false?

Verdict: False

The Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development  has dismissed the above claim as false, attributing it to criminal elements who were running a fake Facebook page.       

The ministry issued a statement  on its social media platforms warning the public to be wary of being scammed.

How to verify social media accounts

  • Find out who is posting on the platform
  • If it purports to be a ministry page, find out if it is the official account. It is usually linked to that particular ministry’s website or other social media platforms.
  • Inspect the timeline to investigate whether the user has a track record of posting factual and reliable information.
  • Try to understand the context within which a post was made.
  • Verify date and time stamp.
  • Check out the followers
  • Find out if the page was setup as a parody account to share jokes
  • Find out what other pages or media platforms say about the issues raised in the post
  • Lookout for obvious errors in the post
  • In some cases, one can get a clue in the comments section
  • Check if the URL in the post works

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