Verdict: It’s a scam

 
Background: A viral WhatsApp message had recently asked the public to apply to be part of the proposed cash transfer of N8,000 by the Nigerian Government. This message has appeared on Facebook.    

 
The message, while informing the public that Federal Government had approved the funds for 12 million households, also gave the impression that (every) individual was eligible for the funds. See the screenshot below:

Messages like this are not uncommon particularly when they have to do with information about public policies and programmes.

 
Following the pains that greeted the removal of fuel subsidy by President Tinubu on May 29, the government announced the proposed conditional cash transfer window of the sum of N8,000 per month to 12 million poor and low-income households. This is expected to run for a period of six months assumed to have a multiplier effect on about 60 million individuals.

 
The National Cash Transfer Project, which is being largely run from a loan facility from the World Bank, is one of the programmes being implemented by the Government of Nigeria under the National Social Safety Nets Project (NASSP) to support vulnerable Nigerians.

 
Following this announcement, the proposal has been received with mixed feelings by different sections of the Nigerian public hailing with many people questioning the rationale behind borrowing for consumption,  many people believe the proposed cash is too meagre to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal.

 
With the barrage of negative criticisms against the cash transfer proposal, the federal government has directed an immediate review of the project.

 
But is the call for registration for the cash transfer legitimate? This was verified.

 
Verification

 
We tried to verify the source of the message by making a click on the URL attached to it. This diverted us to a different website rather than the website of the National Social Safety Nets Coordinating Office (NASSCO) which is statutorily empowered to facilitate such registration National Social Register (NSR) and co-ordinate, refine and integrate the social safety-net programs. This was the first red flag.

See the screenshot of the fake website below:

 
When we further subjected the website to integrity test, using Scamadviser, an online verification platform for ascertaining the legitimacy of a website, the results showed the website was suspicious.

Screenshot from Scamadviser’s result

Conclusion: Findings show that the viral WhatsApp message asking the public to register for the proposed N8000 conditional cash transfer by the federal government was from a suspicious website. Hence the message was fake and a scam.