The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has raised the alarm over the proliferation of fake Facebook accounts illegally created in the name of its Director General, Mrs Zubaida Umar, warning the public to be vigilant and not fall prey to scammers.
The News Chronicle gathered that these fraudulent accounts, some of which are accompanied by the DG’s photograph, are being used by impostors to defraud unsuspecting members of the public under false pretenses.
In a statement issued over the weekend and signed by the Head of the Press Unit, Mr Manzo Ezekiel, NEMA clarified that Mrs Zubaida Umar maintains only one authentic Facebook account, which is verified and bears a blue tick, under the name Zubaida Umar. Her verified X formerly Twitter and Instagram handles are both @TheZubaidaUmar.
According to the statement made available to the News Chronicle, this clarification follows a number of reported fake Facebook accounts either created in her name or posing and purporting to be her and therefore attempting to use her pictures to extort, scam and defraud unsuspecting members of the public.
Mr Ezekiel further emphasized that the DG does not use any of her social media platforms to conduct business or invite anyone to join business ventures, cooperatives, or humanitarian schemes whether legitimate or not.
For the umpteenth time, Mrs Zubaida Umar will never use her social media platforms to invite anyone to join any business community, cooperative society or humanitarian scheme, legitimate or otherwise. Also, business will never be transacted on all her social media pages and direct messages will never be initiated by her on all platforms, the statement warned.
NEMA has called on Nigerians to be cautious, urging them to report such fraudulent accounts to law enforcement agencies for appropriate action.
We advise all members of the public to stay cautious and disregard such fake accounts across all social media platforms and report anyone caught perpetrating this illegal act to the law enforcement agencies, the statement concluded.
