By OKEY NDIRIBE
Former President Goodluck Jonathan has warned Nigerians about scammers using his name and photo on Facebook to trick and defraud innocent people.
This warning came through a statement released by the Goodluck Jonathan Foundation, signed by Jonathan’s media aide, Ikechukwu Eze.
According to Eze, in a disclaimer issued on behalf of the Foundation:
“The Goodluck Jonathan Foundation (GJF) is aware of a misleading message being circulated about a proposed launch of a youth Empowerment Initiative tagged: ‘Empowering Nigerian Youth Enhancing Economic Growth’, which promises to offer financial support to individuals.
“We urge the public to disregard the message as the information is false, misleading and targeted to defraud people.”
“The details contained in the message are not associated with us. The Goodluck Jonathan Foundation remains committed to its mission of promoting peace and prosperity through legitimate and transparent processes. We urge the public to disregard this misleading information and refrain from sharing it further.
“We also encourage the public to verify information through our official social platforms; @GEJfoundation on X (formerly Twitter) and Goodluck Jonathan Foundation on Facebook channels before taking any action based on unverified claims.”
An investigation by the reporter revealed that Jonathan issued the warning after discovering that a fraudster had created a fake Facebook account using his name and photo. This fake account had already attracted thousands of Nigerians as Facebook friends.
The scammer, pretending to be “Goodluck Jonathan,” would start friendly conversations with unsuspecting people and then ask them to continue chatting on WhatsApp using a specific phone number: 07041752785.
After moving the chat to WhatsApp, the fraudster would claim that he was offering each person a grant of N500,000. The fake message invited students, businesspeople, and farmers to apply for the supposed grant.
It also asked interested individuals to contact someone claiming to be Jonathan’s “manager,” named Professor Emmanuel Balogun, for registration. This “manager” would then guide the applicants through a registration process.
However, the fake registration form required each applicant to pay N7,500. To make the scam seem real, the fraudster posted photos of three people claiming they had received the grant.
When contacted about the issue, the Deputy Public Relations Officer at the Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, Mr. Isuku Victor Edailokun, said the Police were not yet aware of the case. He added that the ex-President must first file a formal complaint before the Police can begin an investigation.
