IMAGE: Namibia Fact Check / WhatsApp
A post claiming that the German government has an education fund giving grants to Namibians went viral on WhatsApp in August
The post claimed that there was something called the “German Government Education Fund for Namibia” that gave out between “150,000 – 550,000” grants “Strictly for Students within and outside Namibia”.
According to the post (see image below), the grants would be given out to “every Citizen under the age 13-65 years From 2023-2025”.
This viral post was forwarded to Namibia Fact Check over five times in one week in mid-August.
It also appeared in other social media groups, such as a Facebook group for job vacancy postings with over 770 participants, on 17 August 2023.
The post bears all the marks of scam posts like these that Namibia Fact Check has reported on over the last few months – bad spelling and poor English; it does not indicate in what currency the grant is offered; no official marks, emblems, logos or signatures; no identifiable author or entity promoting this opportunity; an unofficial website address in the accompanying link.
The link clicks through to a basic webpage (see image below) containing no further relevant information about the supposed grant, but rather just informs that by having clicked to the page an individual’s application has supposedly been registered.
Upon inquiry from Namibia Fact Check, Clarissa Judmann, from the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Namibia, indicated in mid-August that the embassy was aware of the scam, as they had been receiving many phone calls from Namibians asking about the grant.
The Embassy’s official response to Namibia Fact Check states:
“The German Embassy is aware of the message circulating on WhatsApp of a German Government Education Grant providing scholarships to every Namibian. This is a scam and no such grant exists. Scholarships are provided by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and other official institutions. More information about scholarships can be found on the website of the German Embassy: https://windhuk.diplo.de/na-en/germany-and-namibia/kultur/-/2476590”
Do not provide identifying information
Namibians are encouraged to be vigilant and not share personal information on webpages such as these, but should rather reach out to credible authorities to verify whether such promotions, grants, or opportunities are real.