Pretend OWWA scholarship registration hyperlinks result in phishing web sites

AI evaluation reveals the picture used within the video is 99% AI-generated and certain a deepfake, whereas the supposed registration hyperlinks direct customers to doubtful websites requesting private info

Declare: The Abroad Staff Welfare Administration (OWWA) scholarship program gives a P20,000 month-to-month allowance and P60,000 yearly for tuition, which college students can entry by registering by a hyperlink shared in posts on-line.

Score: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: Quite a few Fb posts have circulated this declare, with some of the viral gaining 16,900 views, 435 reactions, and 137 shares. The web page repeatedly selling the declare, “MSWD Information Replace,” has 130,000 followers.

Textual content within the video states: “OWWA Scholarship program. Elementary, highschool, school P20k – month-to-month allowance. P60k – for tuition charge yearly.”

Within the remark part, many Filipinos seem satisfied by the declare, with customers asking about find out how to apply, what the necessities are, and the way they’ll be a part of this system.

The info: A screenshot of the picture analyzed with the AI detection instrument Sight Engine reveals it’s 99% doubtless AI-generated, with 99% confidence in using GenAI and face manipulation, and indicators of using diffusion fashions, primarily Steady Diffusion.

Hive Moderation additionally flagged the picture as 98.2% more likely to include AI-generated or deepfake content material, figuring out it as created by AI fashions similar to Gemini, Gemini3, and Veo3. A reverse picture search discovered no credible supply linking the picture to an actual video, additional indicating it isn’t genuine.

Phishing websites: The registration hyperlink shared within the posts was flagged as suspicious by EasyDMARC’s phishing hyperlink checker. The hyperlinks direct customers to web sites labeled as “OWWA Scholarship Program On-line Registration” for elementary, highschool, and school college students, giving the impression that these are official OWWA pages. The hyperlink to the official OWWA web site, nevertheless, bears the .gov.ph area.

The varieties discovered within the impostor OWWA websites request private info, together with full title, college, contact quantity, grade stage, most well-liked payout day, and cell phone quantity — information generally focused in phishing makes an attempt to steal delicate info. (READ: Phishing 101: Tips on how to spot and keep away from phishing)

OWWA scholarship: Official info from the OWWA web site reveals that the main points of the company’s scholarship applications differ from these supplied within the viral declare. Below the Abroad Filipino Staff (OFW) Dependent Scholarship Program, eligible dependents of OFWs enrolled in bachelor’s or affiliate programs in Philippine faculties or universities can obtain P20,000 per college yr.

Equally, the Training for Growth Scholarship Program offers as much as P60,000 per college yr to certified OFW dependents till they full a baccalaureate course. For freshmen, choice relies on the Division of Science and Know-how’s nationwide examinations, with solely the highest 1,000 qualifiers accepted, whereas 600 slots can be found for college students persevering with from 2nd to fifth yr.

In the meantime, the Congressional Migrant Staff Scholarship Program gives as much as P60,000 per college yr to deserving migrant employees or their youngsters pursuing programs in precedence fields of science and expertise, with funding sourced from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Workplace and managed individually by OWWA.

Debunked: Rappler has beforehand debunked related posts with faux on-line registration hyperlinks for varied applications:

– Marjuice Destinado/Rappler.com

Marjuice Destinado is a senior political science pupil at Cebu Regular College (CNU) and an alumna of the Aries Rufo Journalism Fellowship of Rappler for 2025.

Hold us conscious of suspicious Fb pages, teams, accounts, web sites, articles, or pictures in your community by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Allow us to battle disinformation one Truth Verify at a time.