By Hayatullahi Folorunsho Mudathir
A claim has been circulating on WhatsApp and Facebook that the Oyo State Government has opened an application for the second batch of 25,000 Naira 6Months palliative funds for its citizens.
The claim, widely circulated through the encrypted messaging platform, was sent randomly to many WhatsApp and Facebook groups.
The claim circulating on social media, was directing people to click a link which contains a “Apply for your Oyo State Palliative Grant Today” texts asking readers to check if they are eligible for the offer.
The claim, retrieved from one of the Facebook groups “Imole Mohbad”, published by a Facebook user “Itz Princess Ayomide” on December 3, 2023, reads:
“2ND BATCH OYO STATE N25,000 6MONTHs PALLIATIVE FUNDS APPLICATION HAS BEGAN
If you have Applied before and were unable to receive payment, Each Oyo state citizens are to re-apply for the 2ND BATCH and get credited.
Follow the link below to confirm your eligibility status to get PALLIATIVE https://slnkz.com/2ND-BATCHOyo-Palliative-2023.”
CLAIM
2nd batch Oyo state N25,000 6MONTHs Palliative Funds Application Has Began
THE FINDINGS
Findings by The FactCheckHub show that the claim is FALSE.
A careful look at the web link shows that the URL when clicked or opened, have features similar to most phishing websites The FactCheckHub had debunked in recent time as seen here, here, here, here and here.
Also, our writer observed some grammatical errors in the texts which can never be made in an official statement. The errors are analyzed below:
- “Governor Sheyi Makinde Oyo State HAVE Approved…”
Governor Seyi makinde is a singular noun and the axillary verb that best describes what he did is HAS, not HAVE. In fact, if Oyo State as an entity, is also claimed to be the doer of the action, it remains a singular subject that must attract a singular verb HAS (aux).
- “The 2nd batch Oyo State Palliatives to be DISBURT to Each Oyo State CITIZENs”…
The word Disburse is misspelt as “DISBURT”, and also, “Each Oyo state CITIZENs” instead of “Each Oyo state CITIZEN” (in singular form), conforming to the rule of concord.
- “Click on check below to Confirm if you are QUALIFY to recieve the palliative”
In the above conditional statement, the word Qualify is expected to be used in its past form (Qualified), following the conditional “if” rule.
Generally, all sentences in the claim are syntactically inaccurate as they lack some elements like preposition and concord agreement, thus, making the statement swayed away from what could come out from the office of a state government.
Additionally, The name of Oyo state governor is Seyi Makinde, not SHEYI Makinde as spelt in the claim.
When subjected to verification via multiple WhoIs, the results show that the web link which is just 162 days old was registered on July 6, 2023, updated on July 21, 2023 and will expire on July 6, 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 the 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 full name, account number and email address.
When users press ‘Proceed’, it takes users to another page with a message that reads, “Congratulations, You are ‘Qualify’ to recieve Oyo state Palliative please select Your Bank and follow the procedure below.”
Users are then asked to prove human verification by sharing the link to 5 WhatsApp groups or 15 different friends to claim the 25,000 naira palliative grant. After submission, it takes users back to the initial form page for another round of registration.
The FactCheckHub has 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 for these scams as they devise new methods to present them 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 misspelt words in the messages as this is common with phishing messages and fake domains in the form of misspelt websites, the report stated.
Learn how to identify phishing scams here.
THE VERDICT
The claim that Oyo State Government is sharing N25, 000 6Months palliative funds is FALSE; multiple evidences show that it is a phishing scam.