Monica Geingos, the former First Lady of Namibia, has released a video message warning people that fraudsters are using her name and likeness to target unsuspecting citizens.
Manipulation clips circulating for some time on social media appear to show her asking people to invest in a foreign exchange (forex) scheme.
There have been many victims, including one woman who was robbed of her retirement savings, a spokesman for Mrs Geingos told the BBC.
The first lady's team has been raising the issue for almost two years, but this is the first time Mrs Geingos has made a personal appeal as the number of fake messages “has gotten worse in the last two months”.
Mrs Geingos husband, Hage Geingob, was the president of Namibia from 2015 until he died in office last year.
In Thursday video messageThe lawyer and businessman said she was asked to personally make a public appeal because the problem had become “ubiquitous…across social media platforms”.
There are a large number of accounts on TikTok, Instagram and X that at first look like they belong to her – using her profile picture and a handle very similar to her name.
People are also contacted directly.
“Recently, someone received a video call saying that I am convincing them to invest in some kind of strange forex scheme,” said Mrs. Geingos.
“I'm not a forex person, I'm not on any social media platform asking for money or giving loans or anything you're told.”
She urged people not to “contact these fake accounts” but to report them.
The TikTok clips have used real footage of Mrs. Geingos speaking in a voice similar to hers. The bank account details and telephone numbers provided are all Namibian.
Pictures showing Namibia's first lady like this one have surfaced on TikTok (BBC)
Mavis Elias, former executive assistant to the first lady, said “the most susceptible to this type of activity are those who are driven by what they see”.
She said her office was filled with messages from people who had been cheated – many have been involved in some cases.
“At this point, it is worrying (over) that it has gotten worse in the last few months.
“That is distressing because it means that the more accounts that are made and the more people become susceptible to it, the more people lose their hard earned money,” he said. Ms. Elias.
These types of scams have become a “widespread threat in Africa and… internationally”, according to Craig Pedersen, a cyber security expert at the South African company TCGForensics.
He told the BBC that although several reports suggested that the scams were being run from South Africa, it appears that they are now “spread globally”.
Mrs Geingos is not the only high profile person to have her image and voice manipulated.
In South Africa, famous people such as wealthy businessmen Johann Rupert and Patrice Motsepe as well as President Cyril Ramaphosa have been caught up in similar schemes to pull people out of their money.
“Scammers often use celebrities in their scams to lull their victims into a false sense of confidence and to encourage the victim not to ask too many questions,” said Mr Pedersen.
Dr. Thembekile Olivia Mayayise, an expert in this field at Wits University in South Africa, raised this, saying that she had seen several videos online using the likeness of a celebrity.
People are being urged to be “more cautious with investments” and to investigate any suspicious communications they receive – especially from famous figures.
“Ultimately the consumer needs to be more trusting of celebrity endorsements – especially when it comes to investments,” said Mr Pedersen.
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(Getty Images/BBC)
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