Fake social media profile of First Lady Arya Ali surfaces

The Office of the First Lady on Monday said that it has been brought to its attention that fake social media accounts are still impersonating and attempting to transact business on behalf of First Lady Arya Ali, with unsuspecting citizens.
In a statement, the Office of the First Lady said that it wishes to reiterate that at no time will the First Lady or any of her staff facilitate any online transaction for Government service(s).
“We take this time to remind citizens to be vigilant, not to engage any of these fake accounts, and most of all not to provide any payment or confidential information to these impostures. The official Facebook page of the First Lady bears the name ‘Arya Ali – First Lady of Guyana’ and all social media accounts bear the username: @aryaaligy,” the statement read.

This is not the first time that a bogus profile has surfaced in the name of the First Lady.
Previously, the Office of the President had urged the public to be aware of a bogus page on social media platform Facebook, purporting to be the official account of the First Lady of Guyana. That had been created under the name “H.E Arya Ali” but was not affiliated with the First Lady, her office or the Office of the President in any way.
In another instance, the Office of the President had advised the public to be aware of a fake account on social media platform Twitter, purporting to be the official account of His Excellency Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali.
The phoney account @DrMohamedirfaa1 was seeking to solicit funds from unsuspecting citizens for a fake United Nations fund.
Only on Sunday, the Education Ministry alerted residents of Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) to be aware of scammers who are operating a fraudulent ‘small business’ grant under the guise of the Ministry.
In a notice posted to its Facebook page, the Education Ministry on Sunday especially warned residents of Jawalla that there is no small business initiative being started by the Ministry or by Education Minister Priya Manickchand.
“The provision of Small Business Grants is NOT an activity of the Ministry of Education. To be clear, the Ministry of Education has no programme to issue small business grants of $250,000 to anyone,” the notice detailed.
It went on to urge residents, especially business owners, to exercise all caution in dealing with customers.
“Business owners and shop proprietors should not grant phone credit, goods, or services to anyone alleging that they are ‘from the Ministry of Education to share business grants’,” the missive stated.
The notice further added, “The Ministry of Education wishes to make it clear that it will not ask any business owner or resident for credit nor to advance monies under any circumstances.”
The Education Ministry cautioned that it will not be responsible for any losses incurred by anyone who entertains the scammers.