College Relief Fund (collegerelieffund.com) claims to be “a comprehensive fundraising initiative established to ensure long-term financial support and provide opportunities for all youths aspiring to fulfil their dreams of attaining a quality post-secondary education within Africa.“
They also write on their website, “Since its inception in 2018, CRF has engaged stakeholders interested in the educational advancement of the African Youths. We are happy to have hit a break and raised $245,000.00 in 2019 to kick-off our first round of direct scholarships to support deserving students across higher institutions in Africa. CRF is building a proven track record of using its funds to efficiently and effectively fulfill the mission.“
When was College Relief Fund Incorporated?
From the above, the inception of this organization is claimed to be 2018. But is this true? A WHOIS search of the domain revealed it was registered in 2020.
Also, its Twitter social media handle showed that it was opened in 2020.
Its Facebook handle tells a similar story but with a twist. Its Facebook page was opened in 2009 and went by the name The True Love before it was renamed to College Relief Fund in 2020.
An obvious question to ask here is why would a supposedly Non-Profit Organization need to rename a Facebook page? Why didn’t it just open a new Facebook page as it started its activities? This looks more like a person changing their Facebook page to something else rather than the activities of a reputable organization.
Another pertinent question is how was College Relief Fund able to carry out its activities since 2018 when its website and social media handles were opened in 2020? How did it receive and process applications without a web portal? The dates on its social media pages and WHOIS registration provide warrant to doubt that College Relief Fund has been in existence since 2018.
Non-Governmental Organization?
As already seen above, College Relief Fund claims to have received funding from donors to the tune of $245,000.00 in 2019. We can be sure that donors would not send money unless they are sure that the receiving organization is registered and legitimate. A search on the portal of the Corporate Affairs Commision turns up no results for College Relief Fund. This means they are unregistered and their claim of obtaining such funds is false.
Further proof of this is that the donors listed on their website have no affiliation with them whatsoever.
A search on the USAID directory turned up no results for College Relief Fund while Africa Capital Digest in a chat stated that they were in no way affiliated with College Relief Fund and that their logo was being used illegally.
Conclusion
College Relief Funds dishonestly claims its inception was in 2018. It is not registered as a non-profit or any and is illegally using the logos of other organizations. From the foregoing, we can deduce this is a scam, we advise that you do not engage with this website and warn other to stay away.