At least three Facebook (FB) pages using the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) logo as profile picture are offering scholarships under the government agency. The offers are fake.
The bogus FB posts, which appeared on Oct. 24, Oct. 29, and Nov. 6, claim to offer scholarships for elementary, high school and college undergraduate students.
Applications for CHED’s Merit Scholarship Program for academic year 2024-2025 ended on July 15. Contrary to the fake posts’ claim, these scholarships were only offered to college undergraduate students who wish to study in CHED-accredited colleges.
“Reminding the public to exercise caution, verify information, and refrain from engaging in transactions with individuals or groups claiming to represent the Commission,” CHED Chairman Popoy De Vera said in an FB post dated Nov. 5.
De Vera, in his advisory, urged the public to “refer only to official websites and verified accounts” for legitimate CHED announcements.
A Facebook user requested VERA Files Fact Check to verify this claim using the Messenger misinformation tip line.
Clicking on the links provided in the bogus FB posts redirects to Blogspot websites “PH GOVERNMENT ONLINE TRANSACTION” and “PRC BOARD NEWS AND UPDATE.” These websites will ask for your personal information, which could be used for identity theft and scams.
Official government websites end in .gov.ph. View CHED’s official announcements on their website: https://ched.gov.ph/.
Watch our #PramisWalangLokohan video tutorial to avoid being scammed by fraudulent websites.
The bogus scholarship offers, posted by FB pages Philippines Scholarship Application Online (created on May 11, 2024), Philippines Scholarship Association (created last Oct. 25) and Philippine Scholarship Online Registration (Oct. 25) garnered a total of 34 reactions, 34 comments, and 57 shares.
These appeared six days after De Vera debunked another fake post claiming to promote CHED scholarships.
