The Petroleum Technology Development Fund has said it has no link with the Petroleum Development Fund.
PTDF is an agency of the Federal Government under the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources.
It also warned interested scholars who usually applied for its scholarship programmes to avoid a recent deceptive publication by the PDF.
It said the recent online publication by the PDF was a ploy to mislead and extort Nigerians.
In a statement issued in Abuja, the agency said, “PTDF wishes to alert the public to an online publication calling on interested Nigerians to apply for scholarship award by uploading their information on their site, https://www.pdfscholarship.eu.
“The deceptive publication titled ‘Petroleum Development Fund scholarship 2019/2020 for Undergraduate and Postgraduate Awards in Nigerian Colleges of Education, Polytechnics and Universities’ is a ploy to mislead and extort vulnerable Nigerians through the cloning of PTDF application format.”
It stated that the general public, especially those who might have interest in the PTDF scholarship scheme should not be misled by the publication so as not to fall victim to the illicit intentions of the imposters.
The agency said the process of the PTDF 2019/2020 Scholarship had long been concluded, adding that PTDF would always inform the public when the portal would open for the next scholarship application.
It advised scholars seeking PTDF scholarship to cross-check properly before applying for such programmes, as scammers may want to defraud unsuspecting Nigerians.
It said, “All those interested in PTDF scholarship are strongly advised not to respond to this scholarship solicitation as the criminal intentions of the purveyors are manifested in the publication by attempting to confuse PTDF with PDF.”
PTDF stated that it operates an open-door policy and anyone seeking further clarification on any of its intervention programmes could visit its website or its office in Abuja.
SOURCE: PUNCH