Claim
A post on WhatsApp claimed popular music star, David Adeleke known as Davido, is giving out free 5,000 Airtime Voucher and 10GB data “as a way of celebrating and saying thank you for voting his uncle, Adekola Adeleke as the winner of the Osun state election.”
The claim also reads “Hurry Now And Get Yours, I just got mine With 3 of my sims Don’t be Stingy forward to others Friends And groups.”
Who is David Adeleke?
David Adedeji Adeleke popularly known as Davido, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and record producer. He blends traditional African elements with global mainstream pop.
Aside from being a musician, Davido has endorsement deals with MTN, Guinness Nigeria, and Infinix Mobile. He was also announced as the official brand ambassador by the popular sports betting brand 1xBet.
Davido is the Nephew of the Governor-elect of Osun State, Ademola Nurudeen Adeleke.
ROUNDCHECK Findings
The Site Is Phishing.
A click on the link reveals a graphic that has the picture of Davido and his Uncle, Ademola Adeleke.
Just below the picture is a short introductory note which reads the same claim that the Adeleke is “ Rewarding You with 5k Airtime Voucher and 10GB Internet Data.”
Clicking on the green button with the “Get Yours Now” inscription directs us to a new page where participants are being asked to select their network and enter their Numbers.
After accessing and analyzing the submitted number the next page reveals a congratulatory text that says your number is eligible to receive the reward.
Just below the congratulatory text is steps to activate the free 10GB Data or the 5k airtime Voucher reward.
After sharing the information on WhatsApp, the page says participants will be directed to a page where they will be able to activate and receive it on their mobile phone instantly getting a confirmation SMS within 15 minutes.
With the aid of Google lens, the background of the graphic with Davido and his uncle Ademola picture was found on a blog site called Gistreel.
Using Scamadviser, ROUNDCHECK more information about the website. Scamadviser revealed the website made use of shortened links “bitly.com” and it is often misused for phishing.
What Is Bitly ?
Bitly is a URL shortening service and a link management platform. The company Bitly, Inc. was established in 2008. It is privately held and based in New York City.
Bitly shortens 600 million links per month, for use in social networking, SMS, and email. The software company makes money by charging for access to aggregate data created as a result of many people using shortened URLs.
Behind every Bitly there is an original domain name that is longer than the shortened URL.
No Such Information From Davido
We visited Davido verified social media handles, Twitter , Facebook, and Instagram but couldn’t find anything related to the claim.
Fake Site Changing Contents
Two days before this report, we noticed the link had changed its content. The content is being changed to the picture of the Labour Party’s Presidential candidate, Peter Obi. The new claim says that Peter Obi is giving out airtime and data to celebrate his 61st birthday and for his online campaign.
Such claim was not found on Obi’s page neither was there any announcement of such.
ROUNDCHECK can confirm that the message trending on social media is clickbait. The site is also being used to collect personal data and information of individuals who fall prey to clickbait.
Verdict
As research has shown, Davido, whose uncle was recently elected Governor of Osun state is not giving out Free N5,000 airtime vouchers and 10GB of Data on behalf of his uncle Ademola Adeleke.
The claim Is FALSE.