Due to the uproar generated by last Saturday’s presidential election in Nigeria, internet scammers are leveraging on that to phish the personal details of Nigerians.
In a viral WhatsApp message, people are told to sign a petition that would compel certain European countries to place a travel/visa ban on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu.
The message read “SIGN THE PETITION, Mahmood Yakubu For Rigging Nigeria’s Presidential 2023 Election Result in favour of APC
Click here to Start
https://bit.ly/****”
In reaction, a digital marketing expert, John Archibong; warned Nigerians to be wary of such sites as the “original intention of the scammers that set up the bogus websites is to harvest people’s details – Full name and email address, with the intention to sell them later.
“They’re riding on people’s emotions who are aggrieved with the election process in the country.
“They compel (or trick) people into sharing on WhatsApp and social media with the belief that it is part of a submission process, while the real intent is to ensure the bogus website goes viral, to get as many peoples’ personal details as possible.
“However, there are legitimate sites for such purpose.”
Archibong tongue-lashed many of the people who post such messages on social media that they appear to be part of a syndicate, “you cannot say you’re unaware of the intention. It is unethical, dishonest, and gives a poor impression of who you are.”
One of such sites, when visited, appeared to be using a fictious counter to deceive Nigerians into believing that many people are signing off the petition.
A digital media professional, Ade Olusokan noted that; “If one stays on the site a while, you’ll actually see a timer counting number of people who have signed the petition, starting from about 94,000 and keeps rising for as long as you remain on the site.
7.44am Screenshot
“However, if you log out of the site and log-in again after several minutes, the counter starts again from about 94,000 and keeps rising.
7.46am Screenshot
“This is characteristic of fraudulent websites.”
Diverse reactions have greeted last Saturday’s presidential election in which INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu; declared Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as winner, having scored the highest number of lawful votes.
Main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party have both threatened to challenge the conduct of the elections in court.
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