A viral broadcast message on social media platforms claimed that the major sponsor of #BBNaija Season 6, ABEG APP, is rewarding bbnaija fans with ₦30,000 cash to support them. The broadcast was shared with a web link for the fans to register in order to get the support fund.
The message on the viral broadcast reads: “BBNAIJA SEASON 6 GIVEAWAY
ABEG APP the sponsor of bbnaija season 6 is rewarding bbnaija fans with 30,000naira cash to support their fans. I just received mine. DONT MISS OUT. Apply now- https://bit.ly/ABEG-APP-GIVEAWAYs.”
CLAIM
N-VA extracted the claim, “Abeg App is rewarding #BBNaija fans with ₦30,000,” and went on to fact-check and verify its authenticity.
POTENTIAL IMPACT OF THE CLAIM
Abeg App was one of the headline sponsors of the popular reality TV show, Big Brother Nigeria, popularly referred to as #BBNaija. The show just rounded up its sixth season, the grand finale held on October 3, 2021, with the winner going home with a grand prize of ₦90 Million, courtesy of Abeg App (headline sponsor), PATRICIA (associate sponsor), and other sponsors.
The Abeg app known for sending and receiving money, paying bills, and buying quick airtime, went from a paltry 20,000 users to 1.8 million following its sponsorship of the biggest show in Africa, making it imperative to fact-check the claim.
Throughout the 71 days in which housemates were in the house, #BBNaija had over 41.7 billion digital impressions with the Abeg app getting wide internet visibility, another reason why the claim needs to be fact-checked.
VERIFICATION
What is Abeg App?
According to Techcabal Abeg is a peer-to-peer (P2P) social payments platform that allows people to send or request money from another Abeg user without having to input any bank details. The users only need the beneficiary Abeg tag to send them money or vice versa.
The app was founded by three young men, Muheez Akanni, Michael Okoh, and Dare Adekoya, and is only available to Nigerians, for now. Funding an Abeg wallet requires a Bank Verification Number (BVN) and a local phone number linked to your account. You can also buy airtime, pay bills, and link your social media accounts to find Abeg users on Twitter or Instagram.
What is the Abeg App used for?
The major services on the app are sending and receiving money. Once you have an account and your BVN has been verified with your phone number, the system scans through your contacts to identify those who have installed the app on their phones.
Is Abeg App Giving Out Cash?
The researcher clicked on the website link contained in the viral broadcast which redirected to abegbbnaija.recipgu.com/continue.html, where the homepage requested that you drop your name and phone number in a provided form then proceed to answer some quiz before you can claim the cash.
After answering three (3) questions correctly, a message popped up stating that, “CONGRATULATIONS YOUR #30,OOO CASH PRIZE HAS BEEN APROVED.” “The fund will be available to withdraw when you share this information with people. Click the “Invite Friends/Group” button below to share this information with 15 friends or 5 groups on WhatsApp so That They Can Also Benefit Fom ABEG APP.”
The fact-checker searched for the details of the website on who.is which revealed that the site status is INACTIVE while the Domain Name System (DNS) record revealed that the domain has been registered five times.
As a follow-up, the researcher reached out to Abeg App on their official verified Twitter handle @abeg_app to confirm if the said support fund and website originated from the payment platform.
In their response, they claimed they know nothing about it, and urged users to be careful.
“Hi, Abeg as no part of this, please be careful. IT,” the handler replied.
CONCLUSION
The claim that Abeg App is rewarding #BBNaija fans with ₦30,000 is FALSE
