A recent post circulating on WhatsApp claims that the Federal Government is disbursing N25,000 each to 15 million Nigerians.
The post, retrieved from a WhatsApp group on January 13, 2024 claims that the N25,000 Conditional Cash Transfer 2024 Portal is Open, providing a registration link.
“₦25,000 Conditional Cash Transfer (2024 portal open)
FG has disbursed ₦25,000 each to 15 million Nigerians
The 2024 Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer of President Bola Tinubu’s administration would provide 15 million Nigerians with a cash transfer of ₦25,000 for three months”, the post read
Check if you are among the 15 million Nigerians to withdraw_ ₦25,000 each
On 18 October 2023, the Federal Government officially unveiled the President’s Renewed Hope Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, designed to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal and other economic shocks for vulnerable groups in Nigeria.
The flag-off coincided with the International Day for Eradication of Poverty, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The Federal Government of Nigeria declared its intention to grant N25,000 each month to 15 million households. This initiative is set to last for three months, from October to December 2023, which has elapsed already.
The Claim
The Federal Government (FG) is giving each Nigerian N25,000 under its Conditional Cash Transfer program.
The Findings
Findings shows that the claim is FALSE.
In an independent investigation carried out by the FACTCHECK247 team, it was observed that the website linked to the claim showed phishing Characteristics.
The website in question employs tactics used by fraudulent entities which compels individuals to share it with either 5 users or 15 users on WhatsApp before in order to be taken to the payment portal, stating further that you will receive an email confirmation within 24 hours.
A thorough examination of the website reveals doctored comments allegedly from Facebook users that praise the government for allocating the funds and choosing them as recipients, along with the commenters’ corresponding image and stagnant likes. This is one of the features of a typical phishing website.
To verify the links, I utilised EASYDMARC, a link verification tool, which tagged the link as ‘suspicious’.
Further verification on Whois domain look up, the result displayed shows that the website was registered on October 04, 2023 and was last updated on October 9, 2023.
THE VERDICT
The claim that the FG is giving each Nigerian N25,000 under its Conditional Cash Transfer programme currently is FALSE. The claim has the characteristics of phishing scam