A message circulating on social media claiming that the Zimbabwe government has opened online applications for “youth empowerment” funds is fake and bears all the signs of a scam.
The message is titled “Government Youth Empowerment Fund Application Form 2021 Is Out”. It says: “Government Youth Empowerment Funding Application Form 2021 online for registration is now out for all citizens only who needs helping hands”
The message claims that “the Government Youth Empowerment Funds is vision into giving out 200,000 – 500,000 grant to every Citizen under the age 0f 18-70 years From 2021-2024 (sic)”.
The message is fake and is most likely an internet scam to get users’ details.
A web link on the message does not take you to a Zimbabwe government website. Instead, it takes you to a website with “Sterling Capital” as its header. There, the site asks users to fill in their details, including phone number, names, and country of origin.
ZimFact contacted the Ministry of Sport, Youth, Arts and Culture, which denied sending such a message.
Internet scammers use such messages for the purposes of “phishing”. This is a practice in which fraudsters claim to be a credible organization online, and dupes people into giving them their personal details. They then use these details, such as bank accounts, to steal data and money.
This is not a new scam. ZimFact checked a similar scam impersonating the World Bank in November 2020, and another impersonating the IMF in June 2020. Last year, yet another similar fake post was made, claiming funding was available from USAID. All these posts claimed to offer loans and they also asked for personal details.
Conclusion
A social media message claiming there are loans being offered by the Government of Zimbabwe through an online application is false. It is similar to those sent by internet scammers to harvest personal details.
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