Unrelated arrest photo shared in hoax about South African child support fraud
The post adds: 'Ms Nancy Mudau from Nzhelele Biaba, Limpopo has been collecting money for 12 years from these Eight (different men who thought they are the father of her child.'
The post, shared more than 4,500 times, further claims that by the time the woman was arrested, the money had been used to pay school fees, build a home and start construction on a tavern.
Image
Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken on July 21, 2025
The photo included in the post shows a woman facing a South African Police Service (SAPS) van, while being flanked by uniformed officers.
Similar claims were shared tens of thousands of times across media platforms, including Instagram, TikTok and X.
But the claims are false.
No case
A reverse image search of the arrest photo revealed that it was posted on the SAPS website on April 5, 2024, in connection with a drug bust in Kimberley, a city in South Africa's Northern Cape province (archived here).
'Three adult male persons, two South Africans and one Nigerian, were arrested in Pampierstad for possession of crystal myth and one female was arrested in Hartswater for being in possession of suspected mandrax tablets,' reads the police statement.
Image
Screenshot of the image on the SAPS website, taken on July 21, 2025
The false posts claim that the woman was arrested in Limpopo province, approximately 1,000 kilometres from the Northern Cape, where the photo of the woman was taken (archived here).
Limpopo police also told AFP Fact Check on July 17, 2025, that they had no arrests matching the claim's description. 'We do not have such a case in Limpopo,' spokesman Malesela Ledwaba said in a WhatsApp message.
2023 hoax
A keyword search for 'Woman from Nzhelele, Limpopo Nancy Mudau' on Google links to unverified articles from 2023, including on West African blog sites, including here, here and here.
The hoax was reignited this year by a Facebook account called 'Koos de Klerk', which was created in June 2025 and often shares similar fake stories as clickbait with more than 197,000 followers.
Most of the posts from this account also link to a job-seeker's website or promote a WhatsApp group ostensibly with the same mission.
Image
Screenshot showing the promotion of the job seekers' WhatsApp group
AFP Fact Check has previously investigated how these job scam adverts are designed to extract cash or steal personal data, taking advantage of unemployed people.
To verify advertised job opportunities, always check the company or organisation's official website or LinkedIn page.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
12 hours ago
- France 24
Brazil top court rules out immediate arrest of Bolsonaro for violating social media ban
Brazil' s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that former president Jair Bolsonaro would not be taken into detention -- for now -- during his trial for allegedly plotting a coup. But the court warned the 70-year-old would be imprisoned immediately if he violated restrictions, including a ban on using social media that was imposed last week. The far-right politician is on trial for allegedly plotting a coup to cling to power after losing the 2022 election to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. On Friday the court slapped restrictions on Bolsonaro amid suspicion he was trying to disrupt the trial. He is now forced to wear an electronic ankle bracelet and cannot use social media. And third parties are not allowed to retransmit his public remarks. But Judge Alexandre de Moraes considered it an "isolated irregularity" that social media accounts of one of Bolsonaro's sons, Eduardo Bolsonaro, "were used in his favor." Bolsonaro made a speech Monday that went viral on social media, but he did not post the speech from his own account -- his sons and allies did. Moraes -- with whom Bolsonaro has clashed often -- cited posts from accounts on X, Instagram and Facebook with videos, images and text from Bolsonaro's speech. According to Moraes, the former president "delivered a speech to be shown on digital platforms." The former president appeared before the cameras this week to show the ankle monitor on his left foot. "This is a symbol of the utmost humiliation," he said. "What matters to me is God's law," he added, rejecting the court's rulings. The Trump factor US President Donald Trump, who counts Bolsonaro among his allies, has waded into the trial, accusing the Brazilian authorities of conducting a witch hunt. His administration has imposed visa restrictions on Moraes over his conduct in the case, and announced 50 percent tariffs on Brazilian imports unless the charges are dropped. Eduardo Bolsonaro stepped down from his position as a congressman in March and moved to the United States, where he is campaigning for the Trump administration to intercede on his father's behalf. Writing on X, Eduardo Bolsonaro said the new warning from Moraes was "a clumsy and desperate effort to censor me using my father as a hostage." "You are a cowardly tyrant, Alexandre. A washed up coward," he added. Moraes believes Bolsonaro and his son seek to "subject the functioning of the Supreme Court (of Brazil) to the control of the United States." Among the restrictions imposed on Bolsonaro is an order not to approach embassies or the governments of other countries. He must also remain at home at night and on weekends, although he denied any plans to flee Brazil.
AFP
a day ago
- AFP
Hoax posts about Malaysian cash aid scheme misuse unrelated visuals
The purported news report by online news site Malaysiakini was shared on Facebook on July 19, 2025. "GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE OF RM50,000 FOR ANYONE WHO APPLIES," reads the Malay-language chyron on the report, which features footage of Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim at various events and a voiceover that repeats the claim about the subsidy. "Please check your eligibility and the application method," the voiceover says. Image Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on July 22, 2025, with a red X added by AFP Another version of the claim shared on July 11, 2025 includes a photo of people posing in an office with a mock cheque labelled "Disaster fund Turkey". Image Screenshot of the false Facebook post captured on July 23, 2025, with a red X added by AFP Other posts on Facebook ask users to get in touch for further details about the purported subsidy. AFP reached out to one of the Facebook accounts and was given an order form asking for personal details, including full name and delivery address. Applicants are also told to prepare a copy of their national identity card and bank statement. Scam posts demanding users' personal information regularly circulate on social media in Malaysia. AFP has previously debunked accounts impersonating government schemes that garnered tens of thousands of followers. However, the government has not announced a 50,000 ringgit cash aid scheme. A spokesperson for the finance ministry told AFP the claim is false, and pointed to a list of all genuine government assistance announced under the 2025 budget instead (archived link). Misused visuals A combination of keyword and reverse image searches on Google using keyframes from the falsely shared video led to a similar news clip published by Malaysiakini on its Instagram page on July 15, 2025 (archived link). The original report states Anwar would make a "big announcement" as a tribute to Malaysians (archived link). On July 23, he announced a host of measures to help citizens with cost of living issues, such as a 100 ringgit handout and lowered petrol prices (archived link). A Malaysiakini representative told AFP on July 22 that its logo had been misused. "This is definitely not our video. We have never edited any of our videos to promote government aid," the spokesperson said. The clip shared in the false posts has been altered, including font that does not match Malaysiakini's style and a pink chyron covering the original orange one that reads "Anwar to announce extraordinary tribute to citizens". Image Screenshot comparison between the fabricated clip (left) and a genuine Malaysiakini news video report (right) A separate reverse image search on Google found the photo of people posing with a mock cheque was first posted on the verified X account of the Ambassador of Turkey to Kuala Lumpur on March 3, 2023 (archived link). Image Screenshot comparison of the false post (left) and the original post by the Ambassador of Turkey to Kuala Lumpur (right) The ambassador was thanking the Malaysian Aeon Foundation, a charitable organisation under the Aeon Group of Companies, for donating to victims of the devastating earthquake that struck Turkey in February 2023. A similar photo of the event was also published on the Aeon Credit website (archived link).
AFP
a day ago
- AFP
Clip shows flood defence in northern Thailand, not border wall with Cambodia
"Thailand is building walls against Cambodia, reports a Khmer channel," reads Thai-language text on a TikTok video posted on July 15, 2025. The video, which has garnered more than 460,000 views, appears to show a wall being constructed. It shows concrete slabs being slotted into position by several men wearing camouflage trousers and green shirts adorned with the words "Royal Thai Army". According to the clip's , it shows an 800-kilometre border fence that Thailand was building along its border with Cambodia. Image Screenshot of the false TikTok post captured on July 23, 2025, with a red X added by AFP Similar posts surfaced elsewhere on TikTok, Facebook and YouTube, as well as in a Khmer-language post after longstanding tensions between the Southeast Asian neighbours escalated into cross-border clashes in late May, with one Cambodian soldier killed. Numerous border crossings have been closed as Cambodia halted certain Thai imports, and the kingdom's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was suspended pending an ethics probe into her conduct after a phone call trying to soothe the spat was leaked by ex-Cambodian leader Hun Sen (archived link). The neighbours' long-running border spat dramatically escalated on July 24, with Cambodia firing rockets and artillery shells into Thailand and the Thai military scrambling F-16 jets to carry out air strikes (archived link). Both sides blamed the other for starting the fighting, which erupted near two temples on the border between the Thai province of Surin and Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey. The clip circulating online, however, was not filmed at the countries' shared border. Thailand-Myanmar floodwall A reverse image search on Google using the keyframes from the falsely shared clip and additional keyword found a longer version of the video in a Facebook post shared on June 1 (archived link). Its Thai-language description reads: "Let's take a look at the army engineers from the Department of Military Engineering, Ratchaburi province, laying the piles and inserting the concrete slabs". "Each slab takes about 3-5 minutes. This spot should be done as soon as next week," it added. Image Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared clip (left) and the video posted on June 1 (right) The Facebook user regularly publishes videos on the floodwall construction in Mae Sai district of Chiangrai province in northern Thailand, which borders Myanmar (archived lin AFP geolocated the footage to an area near a river on the Thai-Myanmar border (archived here and here). Aerial footage from a July 21 report by public broadcaster Thai PBS shows the same guesthouses, where the floodwalls are reportedly almost complete (archived link). Image Screenshot comparison of the Facebook video from June 1 (left) and a Thai PBS report (right), with corresponding elements highlighted by AFP Another video published by the Facebook user shows a distinct yellow building downstream and across the river (archived here and here). The same building is visible in a June 1 report by state media NBT about the construction of riverbank barriers in communities that have been severely affected by flooding (archived link). Image Screenshot comparison of a building seen in a Facebook video posted by the user who shared the original video (left) and a report by NBT on June 1 (right), highlighted in both by AFP AFP has previously fact-checked other misinformation related to the Thailand-Cambodia border dispute.
