Malawi State House warns of fake First Lady Facebook account: Thieves using it

State House has warned people of a fake Facebook account purporting to be that of the Firat Lady Getrude Mutharika, saying it is work of fraudsters.

“State House is reminding the public and all Facebook users that the First Lady of the Republic of Malawi, Her Excellency Madame Dr. Gertrude Mutharika or her office does not have a Facebook account or page,”  presidential pokesperson Mgeme Halilani said in a statement seen by Nyasa Times.

Kalilani said, using the fake accounts, the fraudsters are sending out various messages to individuals asking them to undertake certain tasks on behalf of the First Lady or her family members.

“In some cases, the fraudsters are asking individuals to send money for them to purportedly process gifts from the First Lady to the unsuspecting individuals on Facebook,” he said.

According to Kalilani, any Facebook page or account bearing names of the First Lady, her office or her pictures is bogus and is run by criminals with the aim of defrauding and misinforming people.

He said information State House has, is that some of these fraudsters are operating from outside Malawi into the global social media village.

“Members of the public are therefore being urged to be on the lookout and disregard any friendship requests or information communicated on these fake accounts and pages. The public is further urged to report such bogus pages to Facebook.com and other relevant authorities to avoid being defrauded by criminals,” the spokesperson elaborated.

Kalilani pointed out that the State House strongly condemns and warns the criminals managing these accounts and pages that investigating agencies in conjunction with law enforcement agencies are seriously hunting for them and that once apprehended, the fraudsters will face appropriate punishment.

In the past there have been fake social media accounts claiming to be those of  President Peter Mutharika.

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