Vodacom is offering Tsh80,000 to M-Pesa users as COVID-19 relief funds.
The tweet contains a link to a website, which requests visitors to choose and click on a ‘lucky box’ in order to receive their money., The message is also circulating widely in WhatsApp groups., However, Vodacom Tanzania has disowned the claim, stating that the content of this message is fake and fraudulent., “We urge anyone who will receive this content to ignore it and avoid sharing it with others,” Vodacom Tanzania said in a statement., The telecom company further warned users against cybercriminals, urging them not to share their M-Pesa details., The website that users are directed to is https://safaricomaid.com/tz/, which is not the official Vodacom Tanzania site. Vodacom’s website is https://www.vodacom.co.tz/., PesaCheck has investigated a claim that Vodacom is offering Tsh80,000 to M-Pesa users as COVID-19 relief funds and finds it to be a HOAX., This post is part of an ongoing series of PesaCheck fact-checks examining content marked as potential misinformation on Facebook and other social media platforms., By partnering with Facebook and similar social media platforms, third-party fact-checking organizations like PesaCheck are helping to sort fact from fiction. We do this by giving the public deeper insight and context to posts they see in their social media feeds., Have you spotted what you think is fake news or false information on Facebook? Here’s how you can report. And, here’s more information on PesaCheck’s methodology for fact-checking questionable content., This fact-check was written by PesaCheck Fact-Checker Najma Juma and edited by PesaCheck Deputy Editor Rose Lukalo., The article was approved for publication by PesaCheck Managing Editor Eric Mugendi., PesaCheck is East Africa’s first public finance fact-checking initiative. It was co-founded by Catherine Gicheru and Justin Arenstein, and is being incubated by the continent’s largest civic technology and data journalism accelerator: Code for Africa. It seeks to help the public separate fact from fiction in public pronouncements about the numbers that shape our world, with a special emphasis on pronouncements about public finances that shape government’s delivery of Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) public services, such as healthcare, rural development and access to water/sanitation. PesaCheck also tests the accuracy of media reportage. To find out more about the project, visit pesacheck.org., PesaCheck is an initiative of Code for Africa, through its innovateAFRICA fund, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie, in partnership with a coalition of local African media and other civic watchdog organizations., Written by, Written by
HOAX: Vodacom is not offering Tsh80,000 to M-Pesa users as COVID-19 relief