Many celebrities and public figures in Nigeria have had their names used by fraudsters to defraud or misinform their followers on social media.
It will be recalled that Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State recently dissociated himself from a Facebook account bearing his name which condemned the recent judgment of the Taraba State Gubernational Election Petition Tribunal.
The latest to feel the antics of the fraudsters is the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara.
Dogara has dissociated himself from Facebook accounts, purportedly in his name and bearing his photographs, being used to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.
According to a statement through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Turaki Hassan, the Speaker said some fraudsters were using his name to extort money from the public for a fathom empowerment scheme.
He said: “Attention of the office of the Rt. Hon. Speaker Yakubu Dogara, has been drawn the existence of fake and fraudulent facebook accounts of Mr. Speaker.
“Reports reaching us indicate that the said facebook accounts are being used to solicit funds from unsuspecting members of the public.
“The administrators of those accounts are advertising for a so-called empowerment scheme by Mr. Speaker for which unsuspecting applicants are asked to pay certain amount of money as premium to access the scheme.
“We wish to inform the general public that those facebook accounts that goes with the name “Yakubu Dogara”, or Speaker of the House of Representatives”, or any other name associated with the Speaker carrying the Speaker’s pictures are not sanctioned by the Speaker or any of his aides.
“Members of the public should be careful of fraudsters who are using the Speaker’s name and pictures to defraud innocent Nigerians.”