Windhoek: The Namibia Investment Promotion and Development Board (NIPDB) has issued a warning to the public and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Fund applicants regarding fraudulent emails that falsely appear to be official SME Fund grant acceptance notifications.

According to Namibia Press Agency, the NIPDB clarified in a statement that these emails were not sent by the board or the SME Fund. The emails are believed to be part of a scam intended to deceive applicants into giving away personal and banking information. The statement highlighted, "These emails are not issued by the NIPDB or the SME Fund, and appear designed to mislead or defraud recipients."

The board indicated that some scammers are impersonating members of the SME Fund team by using convincing email addresses and formats similar to official communication channels. The NIPDB emphasized that all legitimate SME Fund correspondence is distributed solely through verified NIPDB and SME Fund communication channels. They advised applicants to check the authenticity of any communication before responding.

The NIPDB also urged recipients of suspicious emails claiming to be from the SME Fund to report them immediately.