The Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment on Thursday said a faceless group was defrauding entrepreneurs under the guise of assisting them with loans.

Special Adviser on Media to the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Babajide Iletogun, said the group is operating through a scheme tagged, “Federal Government 2017 empowerment loan for entrepreneur (Nation Wide).”

He warned entrepreneurs not to fall for the scam, stating that they use an electronic mail that is cloned with the name of the ministry.

He explained that they ask prospective applicants to pay certain amount of money to register for the loan application.

It reads in part, “Our attention has again been drawn to the unscrupulous attempt by certain individuals who are bent on defrauding the unsuspecting public by inviting application for loan for entrepreneur.

“The faceless group has phone number 08039505131 serving as front, with [email protected] as their email address.

“We want to restate that the ministry does not have any such programme and is not in any way connected with the advert.

“All relevant information about the ministry are available on the website www.fmiti.gov.ng

“The general public is hereby advised to disregard the offer.”

Azeez