The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has alerted Nigerians about a false Davido’s airtime and data give away advert on social media.
The regulator said that while undertaking online social listening, an ostensibly syndicated group is on the prowl to swindle unsuspecting members of the public, particularly millions of Nigerian telecom consumers, by capitalising on the generosity of Davido.
This disclosure is contained in a statement issued by NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Dr Ikechukwu Adinde, on Tuesday, November 23, 2021. The Nigerian-American music star, songwriter and producer recently announced he would donate N250 million to various orphanage homes across Nigeria.
What the NCC Director of Public Affairs is saying in the statement
Adinde in the statement said that the group of scammers who are exploiting Davido’s benevolence, rolled out an advertorial titled “Davido Airtime and Data Giveaway”, which went viral, claiming that Davido is “giving out free 5K Airtime and 10GB Internet data of All Networks” to celebrate his birthday.
The statement partly reads, ‘’In the advertorial, the general public is urged to hurry and get the gift by clicking on the links that supposedly redirect them to network sites, where they will be credited with airtime and data. This is a scam.
‘’The NCC wishes to advise our teeming telecom consumers to have nothing to do with the advert or any similar bogus enticements. The adverts are what they are – social engineering rip-offs designed to get people’s MSISDN and other information that fraudsters can use later to defraud unsuspecting telecom consumers and members of the public.
‘’For clarity, the MSISDN is simply the full phone number of a cellphone, in addition to other protocol information. This number is unique and identifies subscribers/owners in a GSM or other mobile networks. Therefore, it suffices to state that any unscrupulous person or unethical hacker can use the number and attendant protocol to undermine the privacy of the real owners of the number through identity theft and other scams.
‘’The NCC, therefore, reiterates its earlier warning to telecom consumers to be cautious and not to let their guards down. If a promo or an offer seems too good to be true, then it is likely untrue.’’
The Commission in the statement said that it will not rest on its oars in empowering telecom consumers with the requisite information and education in order to protect them from cybercriminals determined to use telecom platforms to perpetrate frauds.
In case you missed it
Recall that a few days ago, popular Nigerian musician and songwriter, David Adedeji Adeleke, widely known as Davido, raised N200 million after calling on his friends and colleagues, whom he has helped in the past, to send him N1 million each ahead of his 29th birthday.
Davido revealed that he will be adding his personal N50 million to the earlier raised funds and donate the total of N250 million to orphanages in Nigeria on his 29th birthday.