Fact-check: No, the National Election Commission is not recruiting new staff as claimed

The WhatsApp message about the National Election Commission staff recruitment is false and misleading. The NEC did not advertise any new job vacancies for recruitment.

Writter: Makur Majeng

A WhatsApp message widely shared in groups purportedly to be from the South Sudan National Election Commission (NEC) is a scam.

The claim purported that NEC has opened a recruitment portal to recruit new staff personnel, citing the availability of vacancies due to the upcoming election.

“NEC STAFF RECRUITMENT 2024. The National Elections Commission of South Sudan (NEC) has opened an application portal to recruit new workers to fill the various available positions against the upcoming election. Application is free for all interested citizens and employment has already started. Don’t miss this great opportunity. Click on the link below to apply now. APPLY NOW👇” reads the WhatsApp message.

The screenshot of the WhatsApp message

The screenshot of the first webpage

When a user clicks on the provided link, it requires a user to enter their personal information, such as name, phone number, email, date of birth, and gender. Then it will prompt him or her to click the “CONTINUE” button to go to the next webpage. After clicking on the continue button, it asks a user to choose his/her age group, between 18-25, 25-35, and 35-45 years, and click on the “APPLY NOW” button.

The screenshot of where it asks users to click on APPLY 

However, after choosing the age group, it will instruct a user to follow the instructions carefully to submit his/her application successfully.

After following this step, a user would be informed that his/her application was successful, with a promise of Short Messaging Service (SMS) confirmation.

Upon clicking prompts for application status, printing a PDF, or submitting, a user will be taken to a different phishing website.

The screenshot of the last two web pages of the website

Claim Verification:

The domain lookup of the claim URL shows that the website was registered in 2000, and the domain will expire in 2025.

The screenshot of the WHOIS domain search

However, on the contrary, NEC does not have an online website or portal for the recruitment process, and further analysis of the claim URL by VirusTotal flagged it as malware and suspicious links.

A press release issued by NEC on Wednesday debunked the claim as false and misleading rumours. 

“The National Election Commission (NEC) has become aware of several false and misleading rumours circulating on social media that NEC has opened an application portal regarding staff recruitment. These rumours are completely unfounded and do not reflect [the] recruitment processes and procedures of NEC,” reads part of the press release issued by NEC to debunk the claim.

“NEC staff recruitment follows established transparent and fair practices. All vacancies are publicly advertised through official NEC communication channels as well as major national media outlets. We urge the public to rely only on official information published by NEC regarding its recruitment and other activities,” it added.

Conclusion:

211 Check found out that the WhatsApp message claim that NEC is recruiting staff in 2024 is false and misleading. 

The National Election Commission did not advertise any new job vacancies, and it refuted the claim while stating that their vacancy advertisements are placed on authorised channels.

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