FACT CHECK: Link for scholarship program posted by fake Landbank page

Claim: Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) posted an application link to a financial scholarship program for elementary, high school, and college students.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The claim was posted by the Facebook page “Land bank update” on the group “DSWD UPDATE/ SCHOLARSHIP” which has 7,900 members. As of writing, the post has 153 comments, 83 reactions, and 23 shares.

A similar post was made on the group “PRC UPDATES” which has 254,900 members.

The post includes a supposed application link. Upon clicking the link, users will be redirected to another page bearing the Landbank logo and a form asking users to provide their personal information, such as name, mobile number, and email. Sharing personal information may lead to phishing and other fraudulent activities. (READ: Phishing 101: How to spot and avoid phishing)

The facts: Both the Facebook page and the application link offering the scholarship program are fake. Landbank’s official and verified Facebook page is Land Bank of the Philippines, and its website is www.landbank.com.

LANDBANK statement:  On Tuesday, January 16, Landbank debunked the claim on its official and verified Facebook page and reminded the public to beware of the scholarship program scam.

“Maging alerto sa mga kumakalat na offers mula sa nagpapakilalang ‘Land bank update’ na FB profile! Ang anumang scholarship program na mula sa kanila ay maaaring SCAM at hindi kailanman konektado sa LANDBANK o sa mga subsidiaries nito,” the post read.

(Be on the alert about offers spreading from the [Facebook] profile ‘Land bank update’! Any scholarship program from this page may be a scam and is never connected with LANDBANK or its subsidiaries,” the post read.

Landbank has previously offered scholarship programs, such as the Gawad Patnubay Scholarship Program implemented from 2012 to 2021 and the Iskolar ng Landbank Program in 2023. However, there is no information from the official Landbank website about a scholarship program for 2024. 

Debunked: Rappler previously fact-checked false claims on supposed scholarship programs from various agencies:

• FACT CHECK: DOLE-NLRC has no scholarship program
• FACT CHECK: Link for CHED scholarship program posted by fake DSWD page
• FACT CHECK: DSWD has no scholarship program with P6,500 cash allowance
• FACT CHECK: Registration link for ‘Robin Padilla scholarship’ is fake

– Owenh Jake Toledo/Rappler.com

Owenh Jake Toledo is a graduate of Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program. This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here.

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