This portal is advertising a job recruitment purportedly for the Ghana Statistical Service. The job advertisement which is titled Ghana Statistical Service recruitment, is being shared on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.
The ‘recruitment’ portal advertises that it has vacancies for 5000 office workers, 5000 supervisors, 5000 data managers and 5000 ‘securities’/cleaners.
Underneath this is a subtitle stating that “The Ghana Statistical Service is recruiting ad hoc staffs for 2024 (Apply Now)”. A recruitment form is provided and prospective job seekers are expected to fill out the form in order to apply for their desired position.
In filling out the form, applicants are required to provide information about their gender, citizenship, first and last names, email address, telephone number and age range. Applicants are also required to check a box beneath the form that says “I agree to apply for the GHANA STATISTICAL SERVICE RECRUITMENT.”
Fact-check Ghana has verified the recruitment scheme and present the findings as follows
When the team visited the website of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS), where job announcements by the GSS are usually published, they did not find any advertisement regarding the purported recruitment.
On the website of the GSS, a press release issued on March 14, 2023, discounted a similar recruitment scam which advertised recruitment for a 2023 census. In the statement, the GSS explained that its recruitment for projects is always published on its website and other official channels.
“We also wish to state unequivocally that Ghana Statistical Service HAS NOT authorised anyone or any agency to conduct any recruitment exercise on our behalf. All GSS fieldwork is always communicated through official channels such as press statements, media advisories or publications on the GSS website (https://statsghana.gov.gh/). Additionally, recruitment for projects is always launched and conducted via the website of GSS, as in the case of the upcoming IBES and GLSS8,” part of the statement read.
Further, Fact-check Ghana used pseudo personal details to fill out the ‘recruitment’ form making rounds of social media platforms. After filling out the form and clicking “Apply”, the web page took us to the next page with the bold title “Ghana Statistical Service Recruitment Pre-certification of Trainers for Censuses”.
Beneath this is an instruction which reads “Your Application for the ongoing GHANA STATISTICS SERVICE RECRUITMENT 2024, Is now on process. Kindly Validate Your Details to proceed to the next step. Note! Number of Applicants is Limited.”
The next page requires applicants to verify their name and phone number and then submit. After clicking on submit, a congratulatory message popped up in the next step and added that “your application has been approved, you are qualify (sic) to work with the Ghana Statistical Service.”
Now to proceed to the next stage of the process applicants are required to share with five groups or 10 friends on WhatsApp which is usual of hoax websites. Applicants after sharing will be redirected to a “Staff form” page after the green bar at the bottom of the page has been filled.
Based on the evidence provided above, it is clear that the purported recruitment of people into the Ghana Statistical Service is a hoax and aims at garnering page visits and possibly harvesting ‘applicants’ data.
Another link which is being shared on WhatsApp platforms and other social media sites is promising free data rewards to subscribers of telecommunication giant, MTN.
To verify its authencity, Fact-check Ghana followed the instructions on the site from to beginning to end. The reward scheme which is titled MTN-OLD SIM FREE DATA REWARD, is promising 5GB of free data for 6-month-old SIM and 10GB for a 1-year-old SIM.
To check if you qualify, potential beneficiaries must log into this if their SIM is 6 months old or this if their SIM is a year old.
After logging in, a subscriber is asked to enter his or her phone number and how old the SIM is. When this is done, it moves to the next page and the subscriber receives a congratulatory message, explaining that they are eligible to receive free data.
However, to proceed, one has to share the link with five groups or 15 friends on WhatsApp. This is similar to the GSS recruitment scam and characteristic of hoax websites.
Further checks online reveal that it is an old claim that is being re-shared as current and has previously been debunked by other fact-checking websites (see here and here).
In conclusion, the two links being shared on social media advertising recruitment of GSS staff and promising rewards for MTN old SIMs are fraudulent.
