Summary: A website claiming that the Ministry of Education is offering free online courses and free job offers has no link with the government of Liberia. The Ministry of Education is not offering free online courses and jobs. We have verified this link to be malicious and maybe used to steal users personal information.
On July 29, a Facebook account named ‘Doctor Life’ claimed in a post containing a link that the Ministry of Education is offering free online education for people aged 18 and above including a certificate and job offer.
The viral post urged applicants to click the link and choose from a list of free courses. A similar viral link about offering free online education for people aged 18 and above including a certificate and job offer was also posted by several foreign online blogs including ‘Home Service.’
Up until the publication of this report, the link garnered 2.3k reactions, 433 comments, and 78 shares.
The Claim
The exact statement: “Starting in August 2024, the Liberian Ministry of Education will provide free online education for people aged 18 and above. Upon completing the course, you will receive an official certificate and job opportunities.”
Rating Justification
To fact-check if the Ministry of Education is offering these opportunities, we reviewed the official Facebook account and website of the Ministry of Education, but we did not see any information about free courses and job offers by the Ministry.
We then tested the viral link to ascertain its authenticity but was automatically redirected to a different site with no connection to the Ministry of Education in Liberia.
A further search to establish the safety/trust of the viral link using an online tool rated the site trust score as ‘very low’. This means the website cannot be trusted.
Conclusion
Based on this research, we conclude that the viral link claiming that the Ministry of Education is providing free online education for people aged 18 and above including certificates and job opportunities is misleading.
The link is fake, and the trust score is ‘very low,’ The public is advised to stop clicking or sharing it as it may be used to steal your personal belongings from your devices.
This report is produced with funding from the USAID Media Activity. The funder has No say in the editorial decisions leading to the production of this content
