Parliament flags fake Instagram account
The fake Parliament Instagram account
The fake Parliament Instagram account

THE Parliament Office of Guyana has raised an alert pertaining to a fake Instagram account soliciting money and offering scholarships to Guyanese under the guise of an Instagram account of the Parliament of Guyana.

Parliament’s Public Relations Officer (PRO) Yannick December, told the Guyana Chronicle that the fake account was discovered about one month ago after persons complained about it to members of the Parliament Office.

The real Parliament account

“There is no way that the Parliament Office would ask you for money or say anything about giving scholarships, that is not our job,” he said.

The handle of the fake account is also different from the official Parliament of Guyana Instagram account. The official account is “guyanaparliament,” while the fake account has an underscore at the end of the name “guyanaparliament_”.

Information for public consumption from the National Assembly has to be sanctioned by the Public Relations Department, December explained, while maintaining that the account is in no way associated with that department.

While the profile has been reported, only when Instagram determines that the account is in violation of its community guidelines, the account will be removed.

Currently, the fake account is still online and Yannick noted that only recently, a staffer informed him that someone through the account made contact with the Parliament Office.

Parliament PRO Yannick December

“What we did was put out an official disclaimer, so that persons could be aware that there may be a malicious person or group of persons behind the account,” the PRO related.

He is pleading with members of the public, specifically Instagram users, to report the profile as spam. If enough persons report the profile, there is a possibility that Instagram will remove it on the basis of these complaints.

The official Parliament of Guyana account was created only last year for the third annual Youth Parliament. It falls under the overarching efforts of the Parliament Office to engage citizens and educate them about the role and work of the National Assembly.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.