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Report by Edward FRIMPONG
The Cyber Security Authority (CSA) has warned the general public to exercise circumspection in the malicious links in circulation purporting to provide access to a monetary grant from a former President of Ghana, John Dramani Mahama.
According to the CSA, the links are mainly being distributed through social media platforms including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and Telegram.
The webpages displayed after the links are clicked come with the message: “Former President JOHN MAHAMA on Feb 1st, 2023 Offer a New Grants of 2,000 GHS to individuals to support all Citizens and Empower the Youths. My idea for the introduction of this is to make every individual happy and empower our Youth for business and career goals. Get Your Own 2,000 By Filling out The Form Below. The JOHN MAHAMA 2,000 GHS New Grant Support for All Ghanaians. Applicants are to fill out the form below and click on Apply”.
A form titled “Mahama’s Grant Application Form” is also displayed on the web pages for interested persons to submit Personally Identifiable Information (PII).
The CSA noted in a released statement that harvested Personally Identifiable Information (PII) from applicants of the websites may be used for phishing attacks and other online fraudulent activities.
“The public is hereby informed to disregard the offer as the former President is not associated with these websites.”
The CSA admonished the general public to be cautious of links that were unsolicited and pay attention to the domain names for any website that claims to be associated with a high-profile personality.
“Pay attention to the content on sites you visit. Fake or malicious sites are likely to have several spelling and grammatical errors,”
“Avoid clicking on links in suspicious or unexpected messages and emails, especially those that ask you to enter personal information or login credentials.”
“Keep all your software especially antivirus up to date. This will help prevent attackers from exploiting known vulnerabilities in your software or operating system”.
“The CSA has a 24-hour Cybersecurity/Cybercrime Incident Reporting Points of Contact (POC) for reporting cybercrimes and for seeking guidance or assistance on online activities. Call or Text-292, WhatsApp-050 160 3111, Email – report@csa.gov.gh.”
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