HOAX: This website running applications for 2022/2023 Hustlers Empowerment Fund is a scam

The website link, circulating on WhatsApp and on Facebook, is accompanied by a text that reads: “Hustlers Empowerment Fund Application Form 2022/2023 Is Out Now. Hustlers Empowerment Funding Application Form 2022/2023 online registration exercise which is the quickest to apply for is now out for all bonafide citizens only who needs helping hands in their various Business and Education*The *Payments* has began for all applicants,Register To be Part of the Beneficiaries

The site’s homepage contains a banner with the words ‘Presidential Youth Empowerment Scheme’ and images (L-R) of the Ugandan, Ghanaian, Indian, Gambian and South African flags, as well as the Nigerian (top left) and Kenyan coats of arms.

Users are then asked to fill in their names and phone numbers and then select the purpose of the funds from a drop-down menu. After this, the site asks users to share the link with 15 friends or five groups on WhatsApp to get the funds.

However, sites that ask users to share a link with their contacts before redeeming a prize, in this case, the fund, are characteristic of phishing scams.

With the use of the Kenyan Coat of Arms, unsuspecting Kenyans may be duped into sharing their details especially as it comes in the wake of the launch of the Kenyan Hustler Fund, also known as the Financial Inclusion Fund, on 30 November 2022.

A WhoIs domain search shows that the website was registered on 2 December 2022 and its registration details are hidden, which is suspicious.

Secondly, the text is inconsistent in that the site banner reads, ‘Presidential Youth Empowerment Fund’, unlike in the accompanying text. A previous article published by PesaCheck on establishing scams highlighted these as some of the ways to determine online hoaxes.

More importantly, the Hustler Fund can be accessed through a USSD code and does not require people to fill in their details on a website. The fund’s legitimate website, hustlerfund.go.ke, contains all eligibility details as well as the terms and conditions for its access. A domain search shows that it is registered by the ICT Authority of Kenya.