NELFUND Warns Students of Fake Loan Portals Impersonating Government Site

Two fake websites pretending to be the official Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) portal are tricking students into handing over personal data — and the agency is sounding the alarm. On Monday, June 30, 2025, NELFUND issued an urgent public warning from its headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria, after reports surfaced of fraudulent links masquerading as the real student loan application system. The Mrs. Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, Director of Strategic Communications, made it clear: there is no new portal. Not now. Not ever — unless it comes from nelf.gov.ng.

How the Scam Works

The fraudsters aren’t just guessing — they’re playing on desperation. Messages circulating on WhatsApp, Telegram, and even Facebook claim President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, has ordered the reopening of the NELFUND portal. That’s the hook. Students who’ve waited months for financial aid, many from low-income families across Nigeria’s 36 states, click without thinking. The links — https://nelfund-student-loan-2025.po-rt-al.com/NELFUND/ and http://gvly.xyz/Nelfund-Student-Loan — look convincing. They even use NELFUND’s logo and official-sounding fonts. But here’s the twist: they’re designed to harvest usernames, passwords, National ID numbers, bank details, and even parent’s phone numbers. Once stolen, that data can be sold on the dark web or used to open fraudulent bank accounts.

It’s not the first time. Last year, a similar phishing campaign targeted applicants for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). This time, the stakes are higher. NELFUND has already processed over one million applications since its 2023 launch, according to PR Nigeria. That’s a million families trusting the system. And now, scammers are exploiting that trust.

Official Channels Only

Mrs. Oluwatuyi didn’t mince words. “We wish to categorically state that this website is FAKE,” she said in the June 30 statement, later echoed in a November 18, 2025, post on NELFUND’s verified X (formerly Twitter) account: @nelfund. The only legitimate portal? https://nelf.gov.ng. That’s it. No exceptions. No backups. No “temporary” links. No “urgent updates” sent via private messages.

And if you’re wondering whether NELFUND ever contacts students directly? It doesn’t. Not by text. Not by DM. Not even by phone. All official announcements come through three places: the website, verified social media accounts, and press releases distributed by Nigerian News Agency (NAN) and Voice of Nigeria (VON).

Why This Matters to Every Nigerian Student

Imagine you’re a 19-year-old from Kano, the first in your family to go to university. You’ve spent six months saving for your school fees. Your parents sold a goat. Your aunt chipped in. You finally qualify for the interest-free NELFUND loan — but you missed the deadline. Then you see a post: “Tinubu just reopened the portal!” You click. You enter your NIN. Your bank account. Your mother’s phone number. Two days later, your account is drained. Your identity is sold. You’re left with nothing — and a criminal record you didn’t know you’d signed up for.

This isn’t hypothetical. Nigerian cybercrime reports from the Nigerian Police Force’s Cybercrime Unit show a 47% spike in education-related fraud in 2024. And NELFUND’s popularity makes it a prime target. The Fund supports students in public universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education — over 1.5 million potential applicants by 2026, according to the Federal Ministry of Education.

What You Should Do Right Now

Here’s what to do if you’ve seen one of these links:

• DO NOT click. DO NOT enter any information.
• Report the link to NELFUND at [email protected].
• Forward suspicious messages to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) via their Fraud Reporting Portal.
• Warn your friends. Share the official link: nelf.gov.ng.

And if you’re applying? Bookmark the real site. Save the @nelfund X handle. Add [email protected] to your contacts. Don’t trust anyone who says “I can help you get in faster.” NELFUND doesn’t offer shortcuts. And if they did, they’d tell you on their website — not in a DM.

What’s Next for NELFUND?

The agency says it’s working with Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to take down the fake domains. But domain takedowns are slow. Scammers just register new ones — sometimes within hours. So NELFUND’s real strategy? Education. They’re planning campus awareness tours in Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, and Kaduna starting in January 2026. Student ambassadors will hand out flyers with QR codes linking directly to the real portal.

There’s also talk of a new verification system: a one-time PIN sent via SMS to students who’ve registered on the official site. That way, even if someone steals your login, they can’t complete the application without the code.

For now, the message is simple: If it’s not on nelf.gov.ng, it’s not real.