Commerce Ministry Installs Hotlines for ‘Public Engagement’ -Alerts Unsuspecting Public About Roaming Fraudsters
MONROVIA- The Ministry of Commerce & Industry (MoCI) has introduced several hotlines as part of constructive efforts to ensure effective engagement with the public, particularly the business community.
The newly introduced hotlines will be used by three of the Ministry’s key units: Customer Service Center, Inspectorate Division and Consumer Education and Protection Unit. They will also be used to boost outreach activities of the Ministry through timely response or feedback arising from the public about specific issues.
The hotlines for Consumer Education & Protection Unit are 0887-500-503 and 07755500-008 while those for Customer Service Center are 0887500-501 and 0775500-006.
For the Inspectorate Division, the hotlines are 0887500-502 and 0775500-007.
Meanwhile, the Ministry is calling on the public, mainly the business community, to make use of the hotlines in order to obtain requisite information about its activities and to equally report any act that may appear fraudulent in nature.
Beware of Extortionists
In a related development, the Ministry of Commerce & Industry (MOCI) has uncovered an alarming increase of fraudulent schemes by unscrupulous individuals who are impersonating by creating social media pages and fake accounts, making posts, disseminating false and misleading information in the name of the Ministry.
According to the Ministry’s Communication Department, such schemes do not represent or originate from the Ministry.
Ministry said in a release that its attention is drawn to the fake social media reports, including those insinuating the solicitation of applications from the public for grants and other loan programs.
“It is also important to clarify that at no time did the Commerce & Industry Minister, Hon. Amin Modad, ever accuse the Unity Party-led Government of formulating an agreement concerning how Liberia trades and exports raw materials without reference to the Ministry,” said the release signed my Communication Director Jacob N. B. Parley.
Taking into account that these insinuations have the propensity to cause reputational damage for the Ministry, the Ministry declared such social media reports making round on the internet as false and misleading.
“Besides, the links being used to share such deception are fake and those who are sharing them have no connection with the Ministry,” the release further warned. “While the birth of social media has been hailed as a great achievement in the information age, it is important to note that dishonest elements have equally taken advantage of its existence for criminal purposes.”
“We therefore see it befitting to once more call on the public to beware of these unscrupulous elements whose inordinate desire is to extort money from people under dubious circumstances.”
Official Communication Channels
To ensure that the public receives accurate information, we reiterate that the official sources for information, updates, and announcements from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry are: Head office is located in the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf Ministerial Complex, in Congo Town, Monrovia and the official website is www.moci.gov.lr, official Facebook Page is https://www.facebook.com/mociliberia and information disseminated is done by the designated spokesperson of the Ministry.
“We urge the public to rely solely on our official channels for accurate and verified information,” the release asserted.
The Ministry further warned against fake publications and false information disseminated in its name.
“We strongly advise everyone to verify the authenticity of any information by contacting the Ministry directly through our official communication channels. Anyone caught engaging in these fraudulent activities will face the full weight of the law,” vowed the Ministry.
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