Adeboye's wife tackles fraudster on facebook

Wife of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Mrs. Folu Adeboye, has gone on Facebook to disclaim an imposter using her name for financial gain.

One of her last week’s posts drew the attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to a pseudo Facebook account that uses her name to solicit money.

She posts, “I wish to bring to your notice one Pastor Folu Adeboye scamming a lot of innocent Nigerians on Facebook by taking advantage of the fact that many people are looking for spiritual blessings. This person is pretending to be Pastor (Mrs.) Folu Adeboye, the wife of the G.O. of the RCCG.

“This came to my attention when he/she defrauded a colleague of mine, claiming God sent him/her to deliver a message to her. He/she asked my colleague to ‘sow a seed’, which means to pay some money into an account. My colleague fell for it.”

The warning has not stopped the use of the parody account, however. As of Monday, it was on and active, duplicating messages and photographs posted on verified accounts of the Adeboyes.

As of last view, the fake account had 3,894 followers.

The alarm raised by Mrs. Adeboye has brought back the conversation on identity theft, which has become a worrisome issue to Internet users.

Some of the people, who responded to Adeboye’s message, confirmed they had received fraudulent messages from the account. Almost everybody, who admitted relating with the alleged imposter(s), said the user demanded telephone recharge cards in exchange for prayers.

But one Jimoh KC says it is time those ‘robbed’ on social media began to explore available tools to unmask the people behind the fraudulent activity.

“Many of the victims have experts who could track these guys and hand them over to appropriate authorities for prosecution. It is not enough to complain. People should begin to take action,” says KC.

Experts have questioned the commitment of law enforcement agents to fighting cybercrime, when everyone that uses the Internet leaves footprints, in form of what experts call the Internet Protocol, that can be used to trace them.

Meanwhile, the General Overseer of the RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has condemned homosexuality and satirically said that the world does not need to worry about global warming anymore.

A world that is embracing a non-child bearing union, he says, should not worry about global warming, a problem partly caused by growing population.

The cleric, an unrepentant anti-homosexuality crusader, took to Facebook to condemn same sex marriage, wondering why people who are seeking the adoption of the practice still panic over global warming.

Adeboye, one of the most active users of social media among Nigerian clerics, says he does not hate homosexuals but the act.

“I went to a country and journalists were waiting for me. Why? Because they believe I hate homosexuals. I do not hate anyone, and you can do whatever you want to.

“But a man marrying a man and a woman marrying a woman? Then, there is no need to stop global warming because soon there will not be newborn children.

“What is that they want to adopt? Who will give birth to the child?” Adeboye asks.

Typical of the GO’s posts, his remark on same sex marriage has generated heated responses, with many commentators aligning with his view.

While he uses the social media to share his knowledge about God, Adeboye, in recent times, has channelled his Facebook account to helping his followers to lead a better life.

He has employed scriptural lessons to guide youths, especially on how they can shun vices.

For instance, he warns youths against cybercrime, saying money made through the fraudulent act will be repaid.

“To all youths out there, you think you can press some buttons here and there and make money via Internet fraud. You will not spend the money you make fraudulently. If you do, you will repay more than you get,” he posts.