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Kenyan Covid-19 ‘relief funds’ website a scam

A Facebook post claims the Kenyan government will be giving KSh15,000 in “relief funds” to every citizen.

The 14 July 2020 post on a popular Kenyan page reads: “*Government* has finally approved and have started giving out free _KSh 15,000_ Relief Funds to each citizen.”

It shares a link to a website where Kenyans can apparently claim the money. 

This is when we started to get suspicious. While the website address was different, the rest of the details were almost exactly the same as a scam promising “lockdown funds” Africa Check debunked in June. 



Same wording, process as earlier scam


The website asks visitors to “Complete The Survey To Avail Free Lockdown funds” – the same wording as on the older website. 

The rest of the steps in the process are also identical, including answering a series of questions, such as if you are a Kenyan citizen, how much money you need to sustain you through the lockdown, and what you intend on using the money for.  

Links to both websites from Facebook show the Nigerian government’s coat of arms, rather than the Kenyan coat of arms.

Nigeria’s coat of arms shows two white horses supporting a black shield, on which stands a red eagle. Kenya’s shows two lions holding spears and a traditional East African shield, and appears on all official Kenya government websites.

We concluded the other website was a phishing scam intended to trick unsuspecting people into sharing their personal information, such as bank details. The same is the case here

For more advice on how to spot online scams, read our detailed guide. – Grace Gichuhi




 

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