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By: Ogunwale Mathew
There is a message circulating on WhatsApp claiming that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has started a monthly stipend payment of 50,000 naira.
Through the link, Nigerian youths are told to submit their account numbers for payment through the suspicious link (https://Nddc-payment.inspireyouth. dotlive).
ROUNDCHECK investigated this claim and found it to be incorrect.
NDDC In Brief
More Read
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was established in Nigeria in 2000 to promote sustainable development in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region.
According to its website, its primary functions include infrastructure development, environmental protection, human capital development, and economic empowerment.
The commission aims to improve living conditions by addressing pollution, unemployment, and underdevelopment.
ROUNDCHECK Findings
Using the verification tool EASYDMARC, we assessed that the risk level associated with the link is high, indicating critical vulnerabilities in Sun Protection Factors (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC).
EASYDMARC warned that these challenges greatly increase the risk of email impersonation and phishing attacks, emphasizing the urgent need to reinforce security measures.
Additionally, our analysis with another tool, e.Veritas revealed that the website contains warnings and exhibits characteristics that could pose risks.
E.Veritas advised users to navigate such sites cautiously, as they could result in unforeseen or unfavourable consequences.
Furthermore, using SCAMADVISER, we found out that the link has a very low trust score, indicating a strong likelihood that the website is a scam.
Hence, users and visitors to this link should be careful when interacting with this website- it is not safe.
When we clicked on the link, a notification appeared, stating: “NDDC: Payment ongoing. You are among the shortlisted candidates to receive a ₦50,000.00 monthly stipend. Kindly press ‘OK’ to submit your account number now.”
We checked the official NDDC website and found no updates regarding a monthly stipend of ₦50,000.
Moreover, no mainstream media has reported that the NDDC is offering a monthly stipend payment of ₦50,000. We also discovered that the link is not related to the official NDDC website.
The NDDC being a Nigerian government agency has its website ending with .gov.ng. Meanwhile, this malicious website has a hyphen (-) in between and multiple dots (.) in the link.
Verdict
The claim that the NDDC is providing a monthly stipend of ₦50,000 is INCORRECT.
