Scammers have cloned the Facebook account of Nigeria’s celebrity pastor and three-time presidential candidate, Rev. Chris Okotie, and are using it to extort money from the public, his spokesman warned in a statement on Thursday.

Account cloning is when scammers copy a user’s Facebook profile picture onto a new account along with the user’s name and use the new account for various scams.

Ladi Ayodeji, Director of Media and Communications Strategy at Household of God Church, Okotie’s church, disclosed that at least two of such accounts have been created.

“In one of the accounts, they are sending mails to Rev Okotie’s supposed friends soliciting for donations for a purported kidney patient that Rev. Chris Okotie allegedly intends to send to a Saudi Arabian hospital for treatment,” Ayodeji said.

The requests are false and do not emanate from Okotie, the spokesman said. “The reverend does normally not engage in public fund raising,” he said.

He added: “In 26-year history of his church, there has never been a time when he (Okotie) solicited for funds from the public for any project. These criminals have ignored our instructions to shut down these fake Facebook accounts.”

The matter has already been reported to Facebook for action, Ayodeji said.

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