MARY ALEXANDER • 22 May 2024

“Currently your life is about to transform. My name is Johann Rupert and I am one of the wealthiest South African,” the billionaire Johann Rupert appears to say in a video repeatedly posted on Facebook in May 2024.*

Rupert is said to be South Africa’s richest person.

In the video, he seems to say:

Today is your lucky day. Today we begin a financial revolution before your eyes. You are one of the selected few who will get a chance to change your life. Only the bravest will be able to seize this opportunity. Out of 100 invited, only the 50 fastest and most determined will succeed.

The voiceover then describes an investment scheme promised to earn a return of US$1,000 a day for the rest of the investor’s life. That’s about R18,000 to R19,000 a day.

“Imagine a life without fear. The key here is the timing. If you start at the right time, you will succeed. So be vigilant. Enter the site and start acting now.”

The post includes a link to a website.

Is South Africa’s richest person really selling an investment scheme on Facebook?

Rupert interviewed at Financial Times summit

Africa Check took screenshots of the video and ran them through a reverse image search.

This led us to the original video, uploaded on the FT Live YouTube channel in November 2019 – more than four years ago.

Rupert’s suit and posture is the same, as is the striped banner behind him.

Its description reads: “FT Africa Summit – In Conversation with Johann Rupert.”

FT is the Financial Times, an influential UK-based business newspaper. It holds a one-day Africa summit every year.

In the original 28-minute video Rupert discusses a range of economic and political issues. He does not attempt to sell an investment.

The video on Facebook has been dubbed, with a different voice added to promote the scheme.

And its link goes to a dodgy website with the URL new24-info.info – similar to the address of the legitimate news site News24 – but designed to appear to be the website of SABC News.

The headline on the webpage reads: “SECRET SUCCESS: Over 200,000 South African citizens have achieved financial independence with a new investment platform, earning up to R120K per month!”

This in turn links to a form headed: “Start now with only R4,700 deposit.” It asks for personal information – name, email address and phone number.

All this fakery – the cheapfake dubbed video and the fake SABC News website – clearly indicates that the Facebook posts are a scam. Ignore them.

Johann Rupert is not promoting a scheme with a return of $1,000 a day. As with any scam, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.

* Some Facebook and Instagram users may have deleted their posts after Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program rated their claims as untrue.

Published by Africa Check on 6 June 2024

The post South African billionaire Rupert not touting investments on Facebook – cheapfake video a scam appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 15 MAY 2024

“Die nuus vanoggend het alle Suid-Afrikaners geskok!” That’s Afrikaans for “the news this morning shocked all South Africans”, and it’s a common theme in a new scam circulating on Facebook in 2024.*

The various versions of the scam use photos of prominent South Africans, with false clickbait headlines suggesting they have met a “tragic end” or have had a “secret” about them revealed – sometimes both.

One shows a photo of Julius Malema, the leader of the Economic Freedom Fighters political party. South Africa is set to hold national and provincial elections on 29 May. The headline below the photo reads:

Die nuus vanoggend het alle Suid-Afrikaners geskok! Die geheim van die groot leier is uiteindelik geopenbaar! (The news this morning shocked all South Africans. The great leader’s secret has finally been revealed.)

A variation on this says, in Afrikaans, that Malema has met a “tragic end”.

Another version uses photos of tech entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth. The headline reads:

Skok! Die tragiese einde van Mark Shuttleworth. Sy geheim is uiteindelik geopenbaar. (Shock! The tragic end of Mark Shuttleworth. His secret is finally revealed.)

Yet another shows cricketer AB de Villiers, suggesting he’s in trouble with the law:

Die tragiese einde van AUberVilliers! Vanoggend het die nuus alle Suid-Afrikaners geskok!! Aanklagte teen AUberVilliers bevestig! (The tragic end of AUberVilliers! This morning the news shocked all South Africans!! Charges against AUberVilliers confirmed!)

Facebook users have complained about this version, with one posting on a cricketing page: “These scammers and Fake News distributors just never Gives up.”

Actor and producer Pearl Thusi is another celebrity the scam claims has met a “tragic end”.

The previews in some versions of the scam show Citizen.co.za, News24.com or Netwerk24.com, the URLs of legitimate South African news sites. But when you click the “Learn More” button, the link goes elsewhere.

None of the shocks to be found in the news

All of the scam posts lead to e-commerce sites, most of them selling either clothing and accessories or, oddly, children’s books. Most of the URLs are dodgy and seem unrelated to the products – startcapitalstructure.com, for example, or startriskdiversificationlearn.com.

Some of the links are now broken, but several of the suspicious sites remain live. Only one version leads to a legitimate ecommerce site, for the US clothing company YoungLA.

The almost identical wording used in the scam’s different versions is a pretty clear indication that its sensational headlines are false.

But to be sure, we checked the news.

There have been no recent reports of any major “secret” about Malema “finally being revealed”, or that he has met a “tragic end”. Given his prominence in politics, either would have made front page headlines.

Similarly, neither Shuttleworth nor Thusi have had a “tragic end”. And De Villiers is not facing any charges.

* Some claims posted on Facebook and Instagram may have been deleted by users after being rated via Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program.

Published by Africa Check on 22 May 2024

The post ‘All South Africans shocked’? No, bogus headlines about prominent people lead to dodgy e-commerce sites appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 2 MAY 2024

“Sharing is Caring,” begins a message circulating on Facebook in April and May 2024.*

“Hello Family and friends! I feel like sharing this information, this has been a glorious year for me as I finally consolidated my debts with RCS Loan.”

It includes the logo of the RCS Group, a South African financial services provider. The company provides store cards, credit cards, personal loans and insurance.

The message continues: “I have been looking for a debt consolidation loan for months, I applied with my bank but I was declined … because of my poor credit. Until a friend introduced me to RCS Loan … I could not believe my eyes when they offered me a loan of R400,000.00 to consolidate all my debts.”

It ends with:

The special offer is also open to blacklisted individuals and debt reviews. RCS LOAN @ 5% Interest Rates, Contact RCS Today For An Application Form. Whats-app: (+27) 082 596 0415, Tel: 087 5100 651, Application Email; rcsgroup@mail.com.
PLEASE SHARE IT. YOU MIGHT JUST BE SAVING SOMEONE OUT THERE!!!..

Sounds too good to be true? It is. Here’s why the message – also seen here, here, here, here, here, here and here – is a scam.

‘That is not RCS. That is a scam’

First, the @mail.com email domain used in rcsgroup@mail.com is a free service offered by Mail.com. A major financial company would be unlikely to use a free email service.

The RCS Group’s real email domain is @rcsgroup.co.za.

The phone number could not be found on the RCS website, nor could any WhatsApp number.

To be sure, Africa Check contacted RCS via its website chatbot.

We first asked about the WhatsApp number. “We do not have a WhatsApp number,” it responded.

We then sent the contact details in the message, asking if it was a scam.

“That is not RCS,” it said. “That is a scam.”

In South Africa, “blacklisting” means a person’s credit score is so poor they are unable to get a loan – and certainly not a loan of R400,000. By saying the “special offer” is “open to blacklisted individuals and debt reviews”, the scammers are preying on particularly desperate and vulnerable people.

* Some claims posted on Facebook and Instagram may have been deleted by users after being rated via Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program.

Published by Africa Check on 7 May 2024

The post Nearly half a million in ‘debt consolidation’ from ‘RCS Loan’? No, just another scam appeared first on South Africa Gateway.

MARY ALEXANDER • 22 April 2024

HIV can be cured with gene therapy. That’s the false claim circulating on Facebook in the southern African country of Zambia since late March 2024.

HIV is the human immunodeficiency virus that, if left untreated, can cause the disease Aids – acquired immunodeficiency syndrome.

“HIV CURE GENE THERAPY. DR.MICHAEL MWEYA IS HERE FOR YOU,” reads one version of the claim, with a WhatsApp contact number.*

“HIV CURE. You can end HIV stigma by using Gene therapy,” reads another.

Yet another supposedly explains the “cure”:

Our medicine introduces new and modified genes into cells which make them resistant to the virus. This makes an AAV9 vector containing a genomic payload of HIV-1 specific CRISPR Cas9gRNA editing transgene that is delivered through transduction of cells. This is the only certified final hiv cure worldwide.

It too supplies a WhatsApp number.

The claim can also be seen here, here, here and here.

Zambia has one of the highest rates of HIV infection in Africa. In 2022, according to World Health Organization estimates, about 10.82% of the country’s people in the reproductive age range of 15 to 49 were HIV-positive.

There is still no cure for HIV, although infection with the virus can be managed with antiretroviral medicine.

So where does the false claim come from?

Gene editing experiment a promising step in search for HIV cure

On 19 March scientists at the Amsterdam University Medical Centre in the Netherlands announced the results of an exciting experiment.

Using Crispr gene editing technology, they had managed to remove all traces of HIV from a culture of immune cells in a laboratory.

“These findings represent a pivotal advancement towards designing a cure strategy,” the researchers said in a statement.

But they added: “While these preliminary findings are very encouraging, it is premature to declare that there is a functional HIV cure on the horizon.”

The experiment was in isolated cells, not a human body. And while it holds promise for a possible way to eventually end the infection, it is not a cure.

News of the experiment was widely covered by the Zambia media, as seen here, here, here, here and here.

Whatever those Facebook users are offering at the end of their WhatsApp lines, it’s not an HIV cure, and it’s not Crispr.

* Some claims posted on Facebook and Instagram may have been deleted by users after being rated via Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program.

Published by Africa Check on 25 April 2024

The post Still no cure for HIV and Aids – not even ‘gene therapy’ appeared first on South Africa Gateway.