COVID-19: Nigerian govt says promises of free data, letter for donations fake

The Federal Government on Thursday said it has not promised Nigerians free internet data as is being spread online.

It said neither was a letter on COVID-19 donations from the government.

The government stated this in separate statements from the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning.

The NCC in the statement warned Nigerians, especially telecoms consumers, not to fall prey to a fraudulent message being spread on the Internet by a fraudulent website.

The commission identified the fake website as https://covid-19-fg-grant.blogspot.com/?=1, which has been asking Nigerians to apply for a free Internet bundle, claiming it was being given by the Nigerian government in collaboration with NCC.

The website asked Nigerians to apply for free Internet by clicking a web link, which automatically led to a webpage with a dialogue box where they were expected to fill in their bio data and other demographics.

Read also: 11 COVID-19 patients discharged in Lagos

The NCC said: “NCC wishes to state categorically that neither the Nigerian government nor the commission has issued such a message to Nigerian citizens.

On it’s part, the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning denied circulating a letter calling for donations to fight against the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the ministry, in a statement signed by the Special Adviser, Media and Communications to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Yinusa Abdulagi, the letter titled ‘Donations so far for the fight against COVID-19 in Nigeria’ with reference number FMF/HMF/S-EFFE-REC/2020/1 and dated March 28, 2020 was fake and an attempt to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.

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