HOAX: This site offering KSh5,000 bursary is a sham | by PesaCheck | Mar, 2025
Bursary Description
The site asks users for personal details and to share the link to redeem the bursary, a characteristic of phishing scams.
This site purporting to run a KSh5,000 bursary for students is a HOAX.
The site, whose link is circulating on WhatsApp, claims to be an application portal for a KSh5,000 bursary scheme for students in secondary and higher learning institutions.
The portal also bears the Kenyan Coat of Arms, comments from purported beneficiaries and a timer depicting how long the portal would be open.
To start their application process, users are required to input their name, institution of learning, level of education, phone number and bank account number. After this, they are informed that they have qualified and are asked to select their bank from a drop-down list.
However, after selecting their bank of choice, they are informed that in order to verify, they must share the link to the site with five groups of 15 friends on WhatsApp.
This is a technique used on phishing sites to increase their reach, as PesaCheck has established in previous debunks. Unsuspecting users may end up sharing personal details, which could lead to identity theft or financial loss.
Notably, after sharing, users do not receive anything. Instead, they are redirected to an unrelated site.
Moreover, certain markers indicate that the site is suspicious. For instance, while the site claims to offer the bursary in Kenyan currency and also has Kenya’s Coat of Arms, the site’s URL, https://student-bursarys.ke.0fferz.com.ng/#!, has the internet country code domain of Nigeria, .ng.
Secondly, the site does not mention which government entity is running the bursary, and its eligibility criteria is vague, which is suspicious.
A WhoIs domain search also established that the site was registered in Nigeria, which would be unlikely for a Kenyan bursary.
Additionally, a keyword search established that various government entities offer bursaries. However, none bears the characteristics of the site under scrutiny.
PesaCheck also contacted government spokesperson Isaac Mwaura, who, via text message, denounced the purported bursary.
“That is fraud. All bursaries are issued according to laid out procedures,” Mwaura wrote in response.
PesaCheck has looked into a site purporting to run a KSh5,000 bursary for students and found it to be a HOAX.