Claim: Electoral Commission of Ghana is embarking on a recruitment exercise

Verdict:  FALSE

Researched by Gifty Tracy Aminu

A phishing link on WhatsApp claiming the Electoral Commission of Ghana is embarking on a recruitment exercise is a SCAM.

“Electoral Commission Ghana (EC) recruitment 2023/2024. Welcome to the Ghana electoral commission recruitment portal interested individuals who apply are invited. But You Must Be a legal citizen of Ghana with a valid means of identification. And must be 18 years of age or above to be able to apply,” the message that comes with the phishing link states.

A screenshot of the viral message

What we found 

By clicking the link, it opens a platform with the former and current logos of the Electoral Commission of Ghana. Beneath the two logos are descriptive vacant positions and the target number of people needed to be recruited.

What you notice after clicking on the phishing link

According to the platform, the EC is recruiting 400,000 election officers, 30,000 security officers, 100,000 Division Officers and 500,000 cleaners.

The platform further requested unsuspecting individuals to provide personal information such as their full name, gender, valid email address and phone number, alongside enticing offers like no application fee, monthly allowance, and free accommodation for qualified applicants.

A search of the WHOIS information of the domain – ec.recruit.gov-funding.cf – has not revealed any details about the registrar of the platform because the registrar data has been made private.

However, a statement signed by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Jean Mensah, on May 2, 2023, has asked the public to ignore such messages.

“The attention of the Electoral Commission has been drawn to an advertisement circulating on various social media platforms to the effect that the commission is undertaking a recruitment exercise. The General Public is informed that the commission is not carrying out any recruitment exercise,” the Chairperson said.

A statement from the EC

 

Verdict

The viral message is a PHISHING SCAM and is not coming from the Electoral Commission.