If you come across these social media accounts:  "Dr. Paul K. Fokam" on LinkedIn, "Dr. Paul K. Fokam" on Facebook, or "Dr. Paul K. Fokam, @PaulKammogne" on Twitter, you are dealing with fakes. The Cameroonian billionaire- notable founder of Afriland First Bank- has no accounts on those social media platforms, his staff indicates. 

“We would like to officially inform the general public and internet users in particular that Dr. K. Fokam is not the author of these publications that encourage social media users to presumably form business partnerships,” said his spokesperson, Maurice Simo Djom, in a statement published on Sunday, July 2. According to the spokesperson, those fake accounts were created to scam the public.  

In a French and English post published on Linkedin last Sunday, the scammer behind those accounts called African entrepreneurs to join him to benefit from the business partnerships that he claims to have negotiated with hundreds of investors in the United States, Dubai, Canada, Kuwait, and elsewhere. At the end of the posts, he encouraged internet users to express their interests by sending a direct message.  "It goes without saying that the impostor will take advantage of the privacy of private conversations to extort large sums of money from potential contacts pretending the fees will give access to the partnerships, which will ultimately prove illusory,”  warns Maurice Simo Djomunder, urging internet users to vigilant.  

In recent years, a growing number of public figures have found their identities usurped online, on social media platforms particularly. The usurpers use the same profile pictures and copy the posts made by genuine figures. They go as far as using similar bios to appear as genuine as possible. 

To ensure the authenticity of profiles, platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter have implemented blue or gray badges to indicate to users that the profile in question is indeed genuine. Personalities (government officials, administrators, business leaders, etc.) regularly raise awareness about these practices to prevent the public from being deceived.

P.N.N.