A claim has been circulating on WhatsApp that the Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) has opened an application for N50,000 six-month grants for African women.
The claim, widely circulated through the encrypted messaging platform, was directing people to click a link which contains a “Apply for your AWIEF Grant Today” text, asking readers to check if they are eligible for the offer.
The claim which resurfaced online and retrieved from one WhatsApp group on Sunday 7th January, 2024 reads: “The application form for the African Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum 2024 empowerment grant is out online.
“Payments have just started for all applicants. Register to be one of the beneficiaries.
“Strictly for students and business owners.
“Apply Here: (link provided) https://awieforum.org.applyforms.me/”
THE CLAIM
Africa Women Innovation & Entrepreneurs Forum (AWIEF) is sharing #50,000 to 885,000 Africa women for six months
FINDINGS
Findings by this reporter show that the claim is FALSE.
A careful look at the web link shows that the URL when clicked or opened, has features similar to most phishing websites.
When subjected to verification via multiple WhoIs, the results show that the web link was registered by GoDaddy.com, LLC on 3rd September, 2023, updated on 8th September, 2023 and will expire on 3rd September, 2024 (a year of operation).
Additional checks on Whoxy domain search engine shows the same result as Whois.
The Whois lookup tool and Whoxy are primarily used to investigate website’s primary domain owner(s) as they searched the database for verified registration information which oftentimes contains resources such as DNS, domain names, name servers, IPs, ownership info, IP address history, web ranking, web traffic and SEO, among others.
Further checks show that a click on the link will take users to a website where users were asked to click the “CHECK” button.
A click on the ‘check’ button will take users to another page, where users were asked to fill their information, such as Name, Purpose, Are you a student or business owner, Current educational level.
When users press ‘Request’, it takes users to another page with a message that reads, “Congratulations, After verifying your information, you have been ‘Approved’ to receive the Africa Women’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum 2024 grant.”
Users are then asked to prove human verification by sharing the link to 5 WhatsApp groups or 15 different friends to claim the 50,000 naira grant. After submission, it takes users back to the initial form page for another round of registration.
The FactCheckHub — a platform with primary focus of fact-checking viral claims or news items — has also published several fact-checks on phishing scams and tutorials on how to identify phishing scams, websites and verify viral WhatsApp messages.
Despite these measures, people still fall victim as these scammers devise new methods to present their false claims to people; one of which is using information that is true to lure audiences to click on a phishing link. Another is giving out freebies that look too good to be true to individuals.
Forbes reported that clever phishing scams always have a sense of urgency about them because they do not want you to stop and consider what you’re doing. They push emotional buttons to bypass logical thinking.
To reduce the spread of phishing scam messages, individuals should always be suspicious; nothing comes for free!!! They should watch out for misspelled words in the messages as this is common with phishing messages and fake domains in the form of misspelled websites, the report stated.
Also, the Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) had, through its Facebook and Twitter handles, debunked the claim, describing it as a scam.
“⚠ Important Notice: Beware of Scam Message
“We have received reports of a scam message being circulated about an AWIEF “Grant”. Please be aware that this is not in any way a communication from AWIEF. Kindly refrain from acting on, disclosing information or forwarding the message.
“Thank you for your attention to this matter,” its notification reads on both Facebook and Twitter pages.
THE VERDICT
The claim that Africa Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) is sharing N50, 000 6 Months grant is FALSE; multiple evidences show that it is a phishing scam.
Hamid Fatimah Omotayo is a 400-Level student of Education and Biology at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto. She can be reached via: [email protected].
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