A string of cloned Nigerian media pages on the internet leaves social media users needing clarification about where to get accurate information.
The average Nigerian seeks information from the internet on topics such as current events, politics, job recruitment, business ideas, educational issues, and a range of other subjects. The search for information makes them susceptible to cloned pages that advertise fake job recruitment and Ponzi schemes to appeal to people.
More often than not, the handlers of the cloned pages are successful in their deceit.
Some of the media organisations that are victims of cloned accounts include AIT, NTA, and Channels Television — all of whom are popular household names for credible information in Nigeria.
To analyse the depth and scope of the coordinated attempts to spread misinformation, TheCable made use of CrowdTangle — an open-source investigation tool from Meta — to search for similar sock-puppet accounts used to deceive Nigerian citizens.
A total of 97 pages on Facebook were identified, posing as the aforementioned Nigerian media houses. These pages also make use of names and logos of the media houses to gain the trust of unsuspecting social media users and trick them in the end.
One name dominated most of the content of these pages — Crowd1 investment.
THE CROWD1 COMEBACK
In November 2020, the BBC Africa Eye published an investigation revealing an international scam network called Crowd1. The investigation included testimonies from victims who were duped and it revealed the web of people responsible for the scheme.
According to the findings, Crowd1 took a keen interest in Nigeria and India, most likely because of the high population and poverty. These factors increased their chances of deceiving desperate citizens.
Days after the investigation, Crowd1 challenged the findings, describing them as a false and improper portrayal of the company. However, two years down the line, Crowd1 has taken a different approach — hiding behind fake Nigerian media pages.
Some cloned pages have as many as 10,000 followers who ingest Crowd1 content, believing it is a legitimate media page. Most of the pages were created between November 2020 – the same month BBC published its report – and June 2022.
DIFFERENT TACTICS USED BY CROWD1
An examination of most of the cloned accounts revealed that many were adapted from their former use to reflect the interests of Crowd1. The modification was done in order to subtly take advantage of the previous account’s following.
