Claim: “Ecobank National Government is rewarding a $8000 subsidy.”
Verdict: Hoax! (False!) Ecobank-Liberia says it is not running any subsidy reward scheme.
Full Text: Recently, a message has been circulating on WhatsApp that Ecobank is granting a subsidy.
The viral WhatsApp message claims that the Ecobank National Government provides US$8000 subsidy scheme.
The Stage Media checks the site to verify its truthfulness or if it is just another fraudulent site that has been created to dupe people’s money and their personal information.
Verification: When clicked, the link of the message takes users to a questionnaire page where it is indicated that “through the questionnaire, you will have a chance to get $8000.”
Screenshot of the viral WhatsApp message
Also, several commenters are seen giving testimonies of how they have been rewarded for partaking in the scheme.
The Stage Media answered the questions about the age range, rating of the bank, and gender, amongst others, that popped up to verify the truthful nature of what the site was purporting to offer.
Like several other scam sites, users are instructed to share the program with five WhatsApp groups or 20 WhatsApp friends to win US$8000 congratulatory prize that appears after answering the questions.
After sharing, a complete registration form appeared where users are informed that it’s the final step to getting the prize within 5-7 days, but a completely different site which directs us to Premier Bet (a betting site) popped up where users are asked for their personal information, including passcode and phone number.
This fact-checker scanned the site on scamdoc, a web tool that evaluates digital identities, and analysis shows that the site has a terrible trust index and the owner of the site domain name is hidden.
Though analysis from Scamdoc doesn’t influence the rating of a specific domain, TSM, however placed multiple calls to Ecobank-Liberia, after which they took to their official Facebook page to announce that the bank is not running any subsidy reward scheme and further cautioned people to avoid clicking any link requiring personal or bank details.
Conclusion: The message circulating on WhatsApp that Ecobank is providing US$8000 reward scheme is a hoax. TSM joins Ecobank to warn Liberians against this fake $8000 reward scheme.
By Gloria Wleh
