Claim: A WhatsApp user in a community group posted the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) Application Portal link.

Verdict: The website link posted to be the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) application portal is a phishing website.

Full Text:

On October 22, 2022, a WhatsApp user posted information claiming that the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) was recruiting. The post, which read, “Are You Skilled, Courageous, and Principled?” Nigeria Needs.  Application Portal is now open.  Apply And Also Share To Others there might Be Someone Who Needs This Opportunity, Click the link below to apply now”. In the post was also an Apply link.

The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is the body responsible for assessing, collecting, and accounting for revenue accruing to the Nigerian Federation and administering relevant tax laws.

Screenshot of the Fake application portal

On October 21, 2024, the Daily Post reported that the Federal Inland Revenue Service, or FIRS, is currently recruiting young graduates to join its team as Tax Officers (Officer Il and Officer I).

FIRS also made this known in a post on its official X page with specific information regarding application procedures, application deadlines, and submission details that will be published shortly on our official website. The announcement was also reported by these news platforms here and here.

Furthermore, the post from the WhatsApp user generated reactions from other users on the group, like “This link is fake, the original link has not been released yet! Please y’all should be careful”.

Hence, the check to the veracity of the link posted is because the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) is a government agency where most citizens would like to work and are highly sorted for.

Verification

When we clicked on the link to the application portal to register, we saw that the website had been flagged as a “Dangerous Site, Attackers on the site might trick individuals into installing software or reveal individual passwords, phone or credit card numbers.

Screenshot of the flagship by Chrome

We also checked the official  X handle of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), which revealed that there is no application portal available yet. This can be seen in the write-up on the graphic banner: “Further specific information regarding application procedures, including application deadlines and submission details, will be published on our official website.”.

Image from the official X handle of FIRS

Conclusion:

The public must be vigilant as they want to apply for a government job opening. One of the things they should watch out for when it comes to applying for a government job is the website, which most times has the domain name “gov. ng,” reaching out to the government agency’s office or secretariat. So, therefore, the claim of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) application portal is fake and misleading.