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 (MWACSMED) 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 & 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
Sources
https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/guides/guide-how-verify-website-and-people-behind-it
Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small and Medium Enterprises Development
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