Fact-check: WhatsApp message advertising UN AID funds for South Sudan is a hoax

The viral WhatsApp message containing an application for UN AID Funds to South Sudanese is a scam.

Writer: Abraham Athian 

A WhatsApp message being forwarded to several users and groups with a title that reads, “UN AID FUNDS FOR SOUTH SUDAN” is a hoax.

“The online application for UN AID FUNDS is now available, and the government is urging all the citizens to apply now to receive this aid funds. Payment of funds has just started,” the claim reads in part.

“Application is free for all applicants and is open to all citizens, whether rich or poor,” the message adds. 

A link is provided in the WhatsApp message for unsuspecting users to click on. The provided link refers you to a web page where you will see the South Sudan Coat of Arms and the United Nations logo with South Sudan maps in the background. 

Besides, you will also see the alleged number of applicants who are said to have received the claimed aid highlighted in green colour. There are about 9,634 beneficiaries. 

In addition, some static comments with unclickable profiles are fake and misleading. 

While proceeding,  a user is asked for their name and whether the user is a South Sudanese. After submission, the user will see the congratulatory message and eligibility to receive the aid after submitting the details. 

With their tricky plans, conditional steps are given to receive the alleged funds. That is by sharing it with five groups and 15 friends on WhatsApp. “This is what made it go viral.” 

Claim Verification 

A Google Word Search for “UN aid funds for South Sudan” yields no results. 

WEB Paranoid Results show that the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) link is a scam and a low-trusted website that is suspicious and unsafe for users.

WEB PARANOID RESULTS (Analysis, Review, and Complaints):

A further search by Virus Total detected Bitdefender, Fortinet and G-Data as Malware. Avira, Kaspersky and CyRadar Phishing and Malicious, respectively.

The overall summary of Virus Total results. Six security vendors flagged this URL  https://un.aid.fund.officialreg.site as malicious. 

In comparison, the Whois search shows that the given Link is not the legitimate United Nations URL.

GoDaddy, LLC registered and updated the fake domain on September 22, 2023, in Arizona State, United States. It will expire on September 22, 2024. In most cases, newly registered websites are not trustworthy.

On the other hand, Network Solutions, LLC registered the legitimate United Nations domain on January 31, 1995, in New York State, US. It was updated on January 15, 2018, and will expire on February 1, 2024.

The provided URL https://un.aid.fund.officialreg.site doesn’t match the official United Nations URL https://www.un.org/en/. Making it a fake and illegal domain devised to scam internet users. 

Conclusion:

211 Check finds the claim that the United Nations is running Aid funds for South Sudanese, a hoax devised as a phishing scam to deceive unsuspecting internet users into providing their details. 

A publication under 211 Check’s ‘Fact-check for a pay’ Initiative with Support from the International Fact-checking Network through the BUILD grant.

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