IN SHORT: Some social media users have claimed that OPay is offering “N5,000 gifts” to its Nigerian customers to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan. However, a representative of the company has denied the claims.
Several posts on Facebook claim that OPay is giving away N5,000 (about US$4) Ramadan seasonal gifts to its customers in Nigeria. OPay is a mobile-based financial services provider.
One post, dated 1 April 2024, reads: “Hurry now and get your OPay ₦5,000 Ramadan Gift. Click on the message down below the post to send Account Number.”
On 11 March 2024, Muslims around the world began observing the holy month of Ramadan, a period of fasting.
During this month, friends and family often exchange gifts to celebrate. Companies also give gifts to support and strengthen their relationship with Muslim customers.
The same claim about “OPay Ramadan seasonal N5,000 gifts” can be found here, here, here, here and here. Some of the posts ask users to click on an attached link, while others direct users to WhatsApp.
But is OPay giving away the N5,000 Ramadan gifts? We checked.
False claim
Africa Checked searched for news about the company giving away money to celebrate Ramadan, but came up empty. This is a red flag.
The site linked to in some of the posts was no longer accessible at the time of publication. It’s also suspicious that a company as big as OPay would ask people to contact them via WhatsApp, as the other posts claim. Such promotions are usually run through the company’s official website.
We scoured OPay’s social media pages, including Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), and found that it had never offered a giveaway to mark the holy month.
The only Ramadan-related post is a greeting to Muslims on 11 March.
We contacted OPAy on X to find out if they ran such a promotion.
A company representative said: “Kindly ignore such posts as OPay is not giving out any cash prizes or doing any giveaways for Ramadan."
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