Fact Check: Beware of fake grants targeting entrepreneurs, farmers and miners

Claim: A Facebook page – Ministry of Commerce Zimbabwe claims to be working with China, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in a scheme offering grants to Zimbabwean entrepreneurs, farmers and miners requiring working capital. The platform posted a notice on December 6 inviting applications for the “grants”.

Is this true or false offer?

Verdict: False

The above post was made by an imposter page which is not the official Facebook handle of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. This is not the first time that it has attempted to scam unsuspecting users.

On 23 September 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce published a press release registering the ministry’s concern over the continued fraud by scammers who are deceiving the public and entities by purporting to be officials from the ministry and offering fake grants and loan opportunities.

They warned the public to ignore the grant and loan propositions in circulation as the ministry is not running such projects noting that any suspicious messages should be reported to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce’s Communication and Advocacy Unit on email: [email protected] or call on +263 242 791823/702733/700472/ and on its X handle: Min_of_IC.

How to verify social media accounts

Find out who is posting on the platform.
If it purports to be a government 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 & 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.