Viral video of George Weah’s financial mobile app, fabricated

By: Laymah Kollie

Photo of former President George Weah. Source: George Weah, Facebookpage

Claim: A Facebook page Alufibras stated that former President George Weah has launched a mobile app, a money-making tool for Liberians, and a Facebook page.

Verdict: Fabricated!
Our research proves that the footage used in the content is from videos produced by LNTV Liberia Live in 2020 and 2021.

Full Text
On July 17, 2024, a Facebook page named Alufibras uploaded a video involving former President George Weah. The video showcases a mobile app alleged to be a financial transaction app for users. According to their claim, an individual can easily become wealthy by using the app effectively.

In the video, Liberia Broadcasting System Reporter and Award-Winning Journalist Zoquay Beysolow-Konneh shared the ideology of the apps, while former President George Weah motivates citizens to take advantage of the apps and make some quick money. The President further expresses his excitement and conviction about helping Liberians achieve their dreams and alleviate poverty.
“Thanks to our application developer, every resident of Liberia can become very rich and change their lives. Our developers really made it so that the chance of winning was 98% for everyone. Let this be a gift to my native country. I’m very glad that I can help people realise their dreams,” said former President George Weah.

As a low-income country with a high unemployment rate, it appears that several people believed it. The video generated 2.6K reactions, 506 comments, 263 shares and 252K views when this report was being compiled.

In the comments, users applauded the former President for the vision to alleviate citizens from poverty. Some have already registered their support for the mobile apps. The huge interest in the claim led DUBAWA to initiate a fact check to authenticate the content.

Verification
We discovered that the footage used in the video was originally produced by the Liberia National Television (LNTV-Liberia).
The footage of Journalist Zoquay Beysolow Konneh was collected from a news programme she anchored in 2020 on LNTV. Also, President Weah’s footage in the content was uploaded by LNTV in 2021. In the original video, the Former President was heard speaking to citizens of Bomi County during his national counties tour in 2021.
However, the video published by the Alufibras has been manipulated using Artificial Intelligence.

Our researcher also contacted Ms Zoquay to ascertain her knowledge of Alufibras’ content, but the journalist confirmed to DUBAWA that the video was fake and that the users manipulated her presentation from three years ago.

DUBAWA, however, contacted an Associate of former President George Weah about the authenticity of the mobile app.

In response, Elexa Vanjahkollie said the video is Al-generated.

Conclusion
Our research proves that the app developers manipulated the original content, making the claim false.