Following the announcement that “subsidy is gone” during the May 29 inauguration, a viral message on WhatsApp claimed that President Bola Tinubu had approved a ₦30,000 monthly “Relief Grant” for every Nigerian household for a period of six months. The message contained a link to a website that used the Federal Government’s logo and requested users to input their BVN and phone numbers to “activate their payment.”
The Ministry of Finance and the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) debunked this claim, stating that while the government was planning various palliative measures, there was no such direct cash transfer program open to all citizens via a web link. The website was identified as a fraudulent portal designed to steal banking credentials from unsuspecting Nigerians struggling with the sudden rise in fuel prices and transport costs.
The government eventually launched a targeted conditional cash transfer for 15 million vulnerable households, but this process was managed through the National Social Register and not via random WhatsApp links. Cybersecurity experts warned that these scams tend to surge during times of major policy shifts as fraudsters exploit the public’s need for financial assistance.
