Via her Twitter, the anchor shared a screenshot the fake profile on Instagram which had garnered 249 followers, warning her followers not to fall for the scheme.
Speaking to kenyagist.com, Mashirima stated that it was a colleague who informed her of the fake account. Ā
Upon raising the alarm, she was blocked by the imposter account.
A screenshot of Mashirima Kapombe’s tweet exposing an imposter on Tuesday, May 5.
“I was going to report through my colleague’s account but it seems the person has now changed the username,” she told this writer.
A spot checkĀ revealed that the account was still active but indeed under a different name and Mashirima’s pictures had been pulled down.
Social media specialist Stacey Ndutah spoke to kenyagist.com andĀ advised on ways to identify a fake account.
“The first thing is to check the name. Most fake accounts have misspelledĀ names or unnecessary numbers.Ā
“Inconsistency in posting or sentiments is also a red flag. For public figure’s lookout for lack of a blue tick as most are verified,” she pointed out.
Also, the number of followers is something that should be considered whenĀ spotting a parody account.
Ndutah, however, stated that “in the event a parody account has more followers than the real account, you can check the account over other social media platforms because they are consistent in their content across the board. If they post something on Facebook, they will also post in on Instagram or Twitter.
“Parody accounts tend to use old content so you’ll find an item that was posted by the original account in 2019 was posted recently,” she advised.
When spotted, the social media specialist advised users to report suspicious accounts as fake or as spam.
A screenshots of accounts parodying President Uhuru Kenyatta. The President suspended his official social media pages in Mar 2019.
