A link to a website claiming that the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
is giving away a New Year cash gift in exchange for completing a survey has spread on Facebook (FB). This is fake.
The DSWD said these are scams and that they are not giving any form of cash gift for the holidays after answering a survey.
Published on FB as early as Dec. 4, a post carried a link to an impostor website of the DSWD Field Office XII in Soccsksargen. The website’s header bore the following text:
“Congratulations! Department of Social Welfare and Development – new year gift. Through the questionnaire, you will have a chance to get 7000Peso.”
Users were then asked to answer a four-item survey supposedly for a chance to win their prize. This included questions on the DSWD’s background as an agency, as well as personal information from netizens.
A reader asked VERA Files Fact Check to verify this claim through our misinformation tip line on FB Messenger.
In a Dec. 1 advisory, the DSWD already warned against a scam using a similar modus:
“Walang katotohanan ang kumakalat na link na nagsasabing makatatanggap ng CHRISTMAS GIFT na nagkakahalagang Php7,000 mula sa DSWD kapalit ng pagsagot sa isang survey questionnaire.
(There is no truth to a link claiming that a christmas gift worth P7,000 will be obtained from the DSWD in exchange for answering a survey questionnaire).“
An official from the DSWD Davao Region also denied in a Jan. 5 SunStar article that the agency is distributing a P7,000 New Year cash prize for completing a survey. According to the report:
“DSWD-Davao Regional Director Vanessa Goc-ong confirmed to SunStar Davao that the agency does not distribute cash gifts without proper guidelines or in violation of laws governing the department. This clarification follows the surge of phishing links during the December 2024 holiday season.”
The DSWD urged the public to monitor updates only from their official website and social media channels.
Watch our #PramisWalangLokohan video tutorial to avoid being scammed by fraudulent websites.
