In May, Mafalda Marchioro woke up to messages from friends living overseas asking if she was safe in Abidjan, the largest city in Ivory Coast.
Social media was full of posts claiming a coup was under way. Dramatic footage of soldiers on the street flooded platforms, while AI-generated and presenter-led reports were racking up millions of views on YouTube.
"I was really worried, really concerned, I thought something had happened," the management consultant told the BBC.
But the claims shared around 19 May were false.
They are the most recent example of untrue rumours being spread about coups in West Africa, increasing tensions in a region that has seen several military takeovers in recent years.
Ivory Coast, one of the few French-speaking countries still closely aligned with the West, is due to hold presidential elections later this year.
Experts believe it could be an increasing target for this type of disinformation with narratives attacking the electoral process.
This is because Ivorian President Alassane Ouattarra, poised to seek a fourth term, is seen as pro-Western - and his critics accuse him of aligning with countries that are exploiting the continent.
Ivory Coast's Communications Minister Amadou Coulibaly told the BBC they had traced the origin of the fake information to "neighbouring countries", but did not specify further.
The rumours appear to have grown out of a rift with Burkina Faso and have been promoted by a growing wave of self-styled pan-Africanist...
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