TETFund: Fighting The Online Scams
In light of a resurgence of some individuals misusing the Tertiary Education Trust Fund’s (TETFund) name, the board is warning the public against the activities of some faceless individuals that fraudulently invoke the Fund’s name to defraud students and members of the public.
Like many other organisations, TETFund has seen an increased use of sophisticated forms that appear to be legitimate in the eyes of a lay man. In some cases, the wrongdoers use fake sites to bolster the credibility of the scam.
Recently, a message circulating on Facebook and WhatsApp claimed that TETFund is paying N30,000 to all of the country’s students. The WhatsApp message reads “As part of the 2022 budget to support all Nigerian students, registration Portal has been opened and Payment has begun,” The message linked to a website where students can supposedly apply. The website’s landing page was an online form in which people were asked to enter their personal details such as name, address, phone number, email address, state of origin, date of birth and name of institution in order to apply.
Unfortunately, the thorough search of the TETFund website and social media accounts found no evidence of the N30,000 bursary. TETFund had posted a screenshot of the message on its Instagram page, stamped “SCAM ALERT,’ including a warning caption which reads: “Our attention has been drawn to a fraudulent message currently circulating on Whatsapp platforms and Social Media.” Recently, the management of TETFund drew the attention of its stakeholders and the public to the fraudulent activities of some faceless individuals operating under different guises in the name of the Fund to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.
Disclaiming the news, TETFund’s director of public affairs, Abdulmumin Oniyangi, reiterated that its mandate includes the rehabilitation, restoration and consolidation of tertiary education in Nigeria, we wish to state categorically that contrary to the claims of these fraudsters, it does not include provision of grants to Nigerian students. “We also implore our Beneficiary Institutions to explore all channels of communication extended to them to verify any claim by individuals or groups under the guise of soliciting for projects on the behalf of TETFund. The Fund, therefore, disassociates itself from the activities of these individuals and groups and advise stakeholders, including students of tertiary educational institutions in Nigeria and indeed the public to be wary of the activities of these fraudulent activities and fraudsters who come under various guises in the name of TETFund to defraud Nigerians.” It further urged the public to visit their website: www.tetfund.gov.ng for clarification on the activities of TETFund.
Oniyangi in his words: “The management of TETFund dissociates itself from the above claims as it is another similar attempts by criminal elements to deceive, not only the students but the public as well, into falling prey into the hands of faceless individuals.”
“TETFund reiterates that student bursary has never been a part of its intervention activities and that the entire information is false and should be disregarded.”
“TETFund however enjoins anyone with relevant information that could lead to the arrest of these criminal minded individuals to alert the Nigerian Police or reach out to the Fund on the following address: info @ TETFund.gov.ng.”
