Scam Alert: Beware of this new MSME Survival Funds Scam

Fraudsters have leveraged on trending Federal Government Schemes such as the MSME Survival Funds Scheme to lay their fishing nets for unsuspecting Nigerians, and have continued to change their formats in order to ensure many victims fall into their traps.

A website https://survival-funds.com/nigeria which is currently being shared in many Social Media Channels with tittle and description stated as "Federal Government Survival Fund Grant: Check if your are eligible to recieve N25,000 as part of Survival Funds Grant" has been promoting a fraudulent scheme under the guise of the popular APC-led Administration MSME Survival Funds Scheme, with thesame logo designs of the Scheme, in lurk for unsuspecting victims.

The Fraudulent website asks victims to fill in their Bank Account details to confirm if selected for the fake grant. As fake as it is, it however does not have capacity to validate Bank details but can "Phish" the bank details for onward fraudulent activities on victims.

It also instigates victims to meet certain criteria after filling in their bank account details in order to recieve the said Grant as follows:

"Congratulations, you are listed to receive a cash prize of N25,000 free! 

"How to earn your cash prize? 

"1. To get the N25,000 Cash Price, First click the green button "WHATSAPP" and send this information to 12 friends or groups on WhatsApp! 

"2. After sending the message, you will go to the next step where you will be able to get the money sent to your Account in 2 minutes," the website instigates.

Several attempts have been made by Fraudsters on Nigerians while mimicking the popular MSME Survival Funds Scheme which are all in a bid to hurriedly collate victims Bank Information for an organised financial scam.

The Project Delivery Office of the N75 Billion MSME Survival Funds Scheme had on 28th February, 2021 warned Nigerians to beware of a fraudulent website "http://www.fg-new-year-fund.xyz/?m=0#1614570870708" https://bit.ly/3b31DIX shared across the Social Media which instigates Nigerians to check their names on a list of Shortlisted candidates for the MSME Survival Funds Scheme, which is also purported for data phishing on victims.

Read more here: Survival Fund List of Shortlisted Successful Candidates is Fraudulent - PDO warns

Earlier before then, a fraudulent website "https://survivalfund-gov-ng.freefunds.xyz"  https://bit.ly/3rwKUDA  also designed for data phishing had promoted a fake MSME Survival Funds Grant under the guise of the Federal Government MSME Survival Funds Scheme in a bid to perfect a financial scam on unsuspecting Nigerians.

Read more here: Scam Alert: MSME Survival Funds cloned, hackers on Rampage | Beware

The popular MSME Survial Funds Scheme designed with good intent is a N75billion initiative by the Federal Government of Nigeria to cushion the effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigerian.

The Scheme's official website is https://www.survivalfund.gov.ng and  broadly encompasses the N30,000 - N50,000 Payroll Supports to 500,000 Employees of MSMEs; 250,000 Free CAC Registration (Formalisation Supports) for unregistered MSMEs; N30,000 Artisan/Transport Supports to 333,000 Artisans/Transporters; N50,000 one time Grant to 100,000 MSMEs and the Guaranteed Offtake Scheme for 100,000 MSMEs.

Even as the Federal Government and the Nigerian Populace struggle to overcome the economic downtime caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is worrisome how Fraudstars have uncontrollably adulterated Federal Government plans in a bid to reck unsuspecting victims.