The Central Bank of Nigeria( CBN ) has cautioned Nigerians, especially youths and owners of small-scale businesses against fraudulent messages on social media requesting loan seekers to apply for a loan in their name.

The bank gave the warning in a statement on Monday in Abuja issued by its Director, Corporate Communications Department, Mr Isaac Okorafor.

Okorafor advised the general public to disregard messages requesting them to send their personal details for any loan.

“Their attention has been drawn to fraudulent messages on the social media circles requesting unsuspecting loan seekers and owners of small-scale businesses to apply for loans provided by the Federal Government.

“The fraudsters asked the loan seekers to do so through an e-mail address (empowermentcbnloan@gmail.com) purportedly being handled by the CBN.

“While they indeed has several development finance intervention programmes from which different categories of businesses have benefited (and still benefitting), the bank does not do so through direct interaction with prospective applicants.

“For the avoidance of doubt, there are clearly spelt out procedures for accessing CBN intervention funds, which are disbursed through Participating Financial Institutions, such as Deposit Money Banks, Development Finance Institutions and Microfinance Banks.’’

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