A video showing a man being dragged and harassed has surfaced online with a claim that it shows agents of a fintech company, PalmPay harassing its debtor inside a market.
In the viral video, two men wearing a PalmPay branded T-shirt and a man that appears like security personnel were seen harassing a man inside a market amidst the crowd.
The video has been circulated on social media platforms among several other misleading videos being used to disseminate false information about the fintech company.
For instance, a verified Twitter account, @GistReel tweeted the video with a caption that read:
“Some palmpay agents were seen bundling a debtor who failed to meet up with repayment deadline out of the market.”
The tweet has generated over 300,000 views, more than 200 retweets and around 900 likes as of Wednesday, May 17, 2023.
Another verified Twitter account, @TheSabiRadio also tweeted the video with caption that read:
“A group of men said to be PalmPay agents bundle away a debtor in the market for failing to meet up with repayment deadline.”
The tweet has generated over 300 retweets and more than 400 likes.
READ: Misleading video circulates about fintech company Palmpay
Similarly, a tweep with the username: @NonnyPhilz also posted the same video on Twitter with a caption thus: “Palmpay Still dey pay.”
CLAIM
Video shows PalmPay agents harassing debtor in a market.
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
The FactCheckHub analyzed the video using InVID and subjected the keyframes obtained into multiple reverse image searches. The result shows that the video had been shared by several comic platforms as a comedy skit.
An extensive search led us to a disclaimer of the video in response to an account that shared it on Twitter.
“We condemn defamatory content on the PalmPay brand. We don’t engage in harassment as portrayed. Stop creating and spreading false content about our brand or face legal consequences. Thank you,” the disclaimer read.
We condemn defamatory content on the PalmPay brand. We don't engage in harassment as portrayed. Stop creating and spreading false content about our brand or face legal consequences. Thank you.
— PalmPay Nigeria (@palmpay_ng) April 19, 2023
However, despite the disclaimer, the platform did not take down the misleading post as of Wednesday, May 17, 2023 when the post was retrieved online by The FactCheckHub.
The FactCheckHub had fact-checked and found to be false a similar video allegedly showing a lady wearing a PalmPay branded T-shirt who was seen harassing a man in a mall amidst the crowd.
Following the virality of the derogatory contents on social media platforms, the fintech company issued a statement clarifying the contents are purely for entertainment and the actors involved are not in any way connected to the company.
“PalmPay, a leading Fintech Company is aware of the recent content circulating on social media regarding individuals wearing PalmPay clothing harassing individuals. We want to clarify that these individuals are not our agents; we have no affiliation with them,” part of the statement read.
Disregard any content or information that is not directly from us!
We do not harass or abduct users or non users of the PalmPay app.#PalmPay pic.twitter.com/nX102AJFHx— PalmPay Nigeria (@palmpay_ng) April 12, 2023
A report by TechCabal revealed that social media users share misleading contents about debt collection practices, which include agents engaging in stalking and harassing individuals both verbally and physically.
According to TechCabal, PalmPay has denied any involvement in such activities.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the video shows Palmpay agents harassing a debtor inside a market is FALSE; findings revealed that the video is among the comedy skits shared online purely for entertainment purpose.
* This report independently verified by The FactCheckHub is sponsored by the Teksight Edge.
Nurudeen Akewushola is a fact-checker with FactCheckHub. He has authored several fact checks which have contributed to the fight against information disorder. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 via Twitter.