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Claim: A viral WhatsApp message states that Orange Mobile Network – Sierra Leone is rolling out free megabytes to customers. The statement added that customers with old Orange sim cards are entitled to 50GB if they click on the link in the post.
Verdict: DUBAWA spoke to Mabel Kanu – Complaint Resolution & Mass Assistant Manager for Orange Mobile Network – Sierra Leone, who confirmed the post to be false.
Full Text
A message making rounds on WhatsApp indicates that one of the mobile companies in Sierra Leone is rolling out free data bundles to its customers who have been with them for more than a year.
The viral claim purportedly coming from :
“ORANGE OLD SIM REWARD. . .
“The ORANGE network is rewarding all old customers with 50GB of free data just to say thank you for choosing ORANGE.”
Due to the virality of the post and the integrity of the mobile company alleged to be rolling out the free data bundles, DUBAWA decided to fact-check it.
Verification
The researcher clicked on the link in the message for verification, and he was taken to a page with an Orange Network symbol, with a Liberian flag very close to the number of gigabytes indicated by the network. However, no free data was provided.
Commentators’ views
Even though the researcher was unsuccessful in accessing the reward, he saw commentaries in the viral link claiming to have received the 50GB reward.
One of the commentators, Joseph Emmanuel, said: “I doubt this offer at first, but it’s real. I just got my 50GB, thank you.”
Are the comments, evidenced in the screenshot above, “real”?
DUBAWA contacted the mobile company in Freetown. The Complaints Resolution & Mass Assistant Manager for Orange – Sierra Leone, Mabel Kanu, told us via WhatsApp that the “viral claim is fake!”
She added that it should be ignored because Orange Sierra Leone is not rolling out any megabyte offers to its subscribers, whether old or new sim card users.
Conclusion
DUBAWA’s finding shows that Orange – Sierra Leone, is not rolling out free 50GB to customers with sim cards older than a year.