By IFEANYI NWOKO

The Federal Government has warned Nigerians to be wary of fraudulent messages making the rounds over the purported payment of N80,000 to beneficiaries of the Survival Fund Scheme.

A statement issued in Abuja, on Saturday, by the Project Delivery Office (PDO) of the Scheme, said that the news of such payment was the handiwork of fraudsters seeking to scam unsuspecting members of the public.

It stressed that the Steering Committee of the MSMEs Survival Fund and the Guaranteed Off Take Stimulus Scheme headed by the Hon Minister of State, Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Maryam Katagum, was unaware of the fraudulent collation of account details.

“The attention of the Steering Committee of the MSMEs Survival Fund and the Guaranteed Off Take Stimulus Scheme has been drawn to an ongoing fraudulent social media campaign requesting individuals to drop their account details on a WhatsApp platform to access N80,000 as stipends under the Payroll Support scheme.

“The notice requesting the public or individuals to disclose their account details on a WhatsApp platform is fraudulent and should be disregarded by all and sundry, as this message is not from the project delivery office of the scheme.

“The procedure for the implementation of all tracks of the survival fund and guaranteed off-take stimulus scheme does not require public display of account details to individuals or groups.

“It is also pertinent to note that under no track of the scheme are beneficiaries given the sum of N80,000 either in instalments or in whole.

“The amount given to beneficiaries remain N30,000 and N50,000 for Payroll Support; N30,000 for Artisans and Transport Grants; N50,000 for the General MSMEs Grant; and N100,000 per MSME for the guaranteed off-take stimulus scheme.

“The steering committee wishes to state that the purported scheme is not known to government, hence the general public is enjoined to disregard any message(s) from any individual or group requesting them to submit account details,” the statement said.

The statement pointed out that the steering committee had established lines of communication with the general public and beneficiaries, including prospective ones, and will deploy same in providing updates to all stakeholders. (NAN)

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