By Simon Muli
A Facebook page with a poster advertising jobs at Coca-Cola bottling company.
Introduction
The poster says the company is looking for employees to fill 120 vacant positions at new branches countrywide. The minimum qualification for the positions is a secondary school level of education.
The post directs interested candidates to fill out the application form on what it claims is an official website.
However, the website says the company aims to employ 2,500 employees, including interns, and not just the 120 number stated on the Facebook post.
The job opportunities advertised include cleaners and guards, motorbike riders, technicians, receptionists and secretaries, storekeepers and cooks, drivers, messengers, and accountants as well as distributors and marketers.
The claim is that the company will pay new employees a salary of KSh 21,500 and above, adding that the recruitment process aims to replace employees whose contracts have ended.
Verification
The application form requires applicants to provide their personal information, a cover letter and to upload their resume. Curiously, the requirement for the cover letter and resume is not marked with a red asterisk, indicating that it is not mandatory.
The website itself sits on the domain cocacolabottlerscompany.com, which is not the legitimate website of the Coca-Cola bottling partner in Kenya — Coca-Cola Beverages Africa (CCBA). There is no information about the vacancies being promoted on the legitimate website.
A WHOIS search of the domain name of the impostor website reveals that it was registered on September 3, 2020, in Panama and information about the organisation which owns it is hidden. This suggests that the bogus application procedure is part of an elaborate phishing scam using fraudulent means to collect applicants’ personal information.
On the other hand, a WHOIS search of the legitimate CCBA website shows that it was registered on June 4, 2015, and it is owned by Coca-Cola Beverages Africa.
The Facebook page with the jobs advert has the username Coca-Cola Bottlers KE. On the other hand, the username of the legitimate CCBA Facebook page is @CCBAinKenya, it has 27,663 likes and has a link to its legitimate website, an email address, contact number and information about its opening hours under its ‘About’ page.
The impostor page has 20 likes and does not have contact information or opening timings.
The Facebook Page transparency information of the legitimate CCBA page shows that it was created on November 13, 2016.
On the other hand, the Facebook Page transparency information of the imposter page shows that it was created on November 7, 2020, just days before the poster with employment opportunities was advertised.
Verdict
PesaCheck has looked into the Facebook page with a post advertising jobs at Coca-Cola bottling company and finds it to be FAKE.
This story was produced by PesaCheck in partnership with Code for Africa’s iLAB data journalism programme, with support from Deutsche Welle Akademie.
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