Bassey Anthony, Uyo
The Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Moses Ekpo has raised the alarm that fraudsters were using his name for a ‘fake’ COVID-19 empowerment scheme intended to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.
The press secretary, Mr. Ekikere Umoh in a statement issued to our correspondent on Tuesday said that online scammers have created a fake facebook account purportedly owned by the deputy governor.
Umoh urged members of the public to discountenance any message asking them to send their account details to an alleged account officer to benefit from COVID-19 palliatives of N50,000 each allegedly owned by the deputy governor.
A screen shot of the message taken from the fake Facebook account with Mr. Ekpo’s identity states: “Due to the current situation (COVID-19) causing the economic breakdown, am using this medium to support Nigerians and empower them with the sum of N50,000 only. Call my
Account Officer on 08081679628, Mr. Kingsley Udo for the transaction, only fcmb bank, unity bank, union bank, jaiz bank users.
Note: don’t send your bank details here, send it to the number above for your transaction”.
According to the release, the deputy governor has neither a private nor an official Facebook account, and therefore could not have originated such a message.
“His Excellency has not mandated anybody or an organization to organize a COVID-19 pandemic palliative or any form of welfare based program in respect of the pandemic, at any given time on his behalf,” Umoh stated.
According to him, the Deputy Governor has no idea of the identity of the alleged account officer, “nor does he have any account in any of the various banks mentioned in the said messages,” adding emphatically, “as a matter of fact, he does not have any form of financial transactions in the said banks”.
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The Press Secretary noted that the Deputy Governor empathizes with the public, especially the vulnerable group, over the current pains occasioned by the pandemic.
The Deputy Governor said “within my limited means, I will continue without any publicity, to reach out directly to the poorest of the poor who abound in our villages, churches and communities, those who cannot afford bank accounts instead of dealing with faceless names with bank accounts”.
He used the opportunity to commend the state governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel for identifying with the plight of the people, and his efforts at ameliorating the impact of the situation in the state through a number of palliatives.
The statement therefore warned the general public to be wary of devices and messages circulated on social media as they are not only false, but represent a product of criminals with malicious intent, adding that such offenders will soon come face to face with the law of the land.
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