Original article (in Albanian) was published on 18/11/2023; Author: Ilda Hoxha
Rita Ora is not offering a 10 thousand Euro reward to her followers, as claimed by posts shared on Facebook. Faktoje, a fact-checking website from Albania, has confirmed that this is nothing more than another online scam.
Social media is buzzing with posts suggesting that Rita Ora, the popular singer of Albanian descent, is supposedly giving away 10 thousand Euros to the first 150 people who greet a different profile bearing the artist’s name.
“Bless you all!! I will give 10,000 € to the first 150 people who say (Hello) and I’m serious, from now on ”, declares the Facebook profile under the name of Rita Ora in Albanian.
The post shows a video of the singer applying a face mask at her home. The video itself is in English and does not mention offering a reward to her followers. In the ‘live’ video that Ora shared on her Instagram, the singer is explaining the face mask she is applying.
Thus, it is clear that we’re dealing with a fraudulent scheme here. This is evident in suspicious comments, with a notable portion of accounts appearing to be fake. However, there are also people who genuinely believe that Rita Ora is offering such a reward.
A commenter on the post expresses skepticism, stating, “Respect, but we can’t even talk about money – nobody is giving us money.”
In response, Rita Ora allegedly states, “Hello, check your messages now. A present is awaiting.”
This profile bearing the artist’s name only has 660 followers making it glaringly apparent that it is not the her real page. Rita Ora’s real Facebook profile has over 6 million followers and is verified with the blue tick by Facebook. Notably, there are no giveaways featured in any of the posts on the verified account of the singer of Albanian origin. Furthermore, Rita Ora’s posts are in English as the singer does not speak Albanian well and this has been confirmed by herself in several interviews.
A similar scam has also been verified in another article published earlier by Faktoje that used Leonora Jakupi’s likeness. Such profiles are created in order to increase the number of followers and are later on sold to various businesses or individuals.