A fake Facebook page is scamming Nigerians wanting to travel to Canada. It’s titled “Canada Visa lottery 2019”. But there’s no such thing.
The scam page has posted a number of ads suggesting that people in Nigeria could “win” a visa allowing entry to Canada.
One recent post reads: “Canadian visa lottery (2019). Win and migrate with four relatives.” The ad also appears on a couple of blogs.
Africa Check asked Amy Galigan, the acting Canadian high commissioner in Nigeria, if there was such a thing as a Canadian visa lottery.
“Canada does not have a lottery akin to the United State of America green card lottery,” she said.
Galigan referred us to a tweet on the official Twitter page of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. This clearly states that Canada doesn’t have a visa lottery.
The tweet reads: “Don't be fooled by false info online: Canada does not have a visa lottery. Make sure you get your immigration information from the official Government of Canada website.” – Motunrayo Joel
The scam page has posted a number of ads suggesting that people in Nigeria could “win” a visa allowing entry to Canada.
One recent post reads: “Canadian visa lottery (2019). Win and migrate with four relatives.” The ad also appears on a couple of blogs.
‘Don’t be fooled by false info’
Africa Check asked Amy Galigan, the acting Canadian high commissioner in Nigeria, if there was such a thing as a Canadian visa lottery.
“Canada does not have a lottery akin to the United State of America green card lottery,” she said.
Galigan referred us to a tweet on the official Twitter page of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. This clearly states that Canada doesn’t have a visa lottery.
The tweet reads: “Don't be fooled by false info online: Canada does not have a visa lottery. Make sure you get your immigration information from the official Government of Canada website.” – Motunrayo Joel
For publishers: what to do if your post is rated false
A fact-checker has rated your Facebook or Instagram post as “false”, “altered”, “partly false” or “missing context”. This could have serious consequences. What do you do?
Click on our guide for the steps you should follow.
Publishers guideAfrica Check teams up with Facebook
Africa Check is a partner in Meta's third-party fact-checking programme to help stop the spread of false information on social media.
The content we rate as “false” will be downgraded on Facebook and Instagram. This means fewer people will see it.
You can also help identify false information on Facebook. This guide explains how.
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