The European Union (EU) has warned Nigerians to disregard a fraudulent online document claiming that it is offering financial compensation to people with funds allegedly trapped in banks and financial institutions across West Africa.
In a statement issued on Wednesday in Abuja, the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS described the purported compensation programme as a scam, stressing that neither the European Union nor the World Bank is involved in such an initiative.
According to the delegation, the fake document falsely claimed that the EU and the World Bank had established a special recovery programme to compensate individuals whose legitimately transferred funds were allegedly withheld by banks in the region.
The document also falsely alleged that the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS had been appointed to supervise the exercise and instructed prospective beneficiaries to contact him for payment processing.
The EU dismissed the claims as entirely false, stating that the document was fabricated and had no connection to the European Union or the World Bank.
The delegation further disclosed that the email addresses and telephone numbers attributed to the Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union, Thérèse Blanchet, and the EU Ambassador to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Ambassador Gautier Mignot, were fake and were being used by fraudsters to deceive unsuspecting members of the public.
It advised Nigerians to ignore the fraudulent scheme and avoid communicating with individuals promoting it, noting that all official announcements from the EU Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS are published only through its official website and verified social media platforms.
The warning comes amid a rise in cyber-enabled financial scams in which fraudsters impersonate international organisations, government agencies and senior public officials to lure victims into paying fictitious processing fees or disclosing sensitive personal and financial information.
The EU reiterated its commitment to combating fraud and misinformation, urging the public to verify unsolicited compensation offers, grants or financial assistance through official channels before responding.