Ministry of Finance warns public of fraudulent ‘National Grant Scheme’ emails |22 April 2026

The Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning, Trade & Investment wishes to alert the public and business community to a fraudulent email currently circulating, falsely claiming to offer financial assistance under a so-called ‘National Grant Scheme’.

“The ministry has received numerous queries from members of the public seeking to verify the legitimacy of these emails. We therefore wish to categorically confirm that this is a scam,” says the ministry.

The fraudulent email, sent from addresses such as min.gov@grantsfund.info or approvals@grantscommitte.com, falsely claims to originate from the ministry and invites individuals, farmers, and businesses to apply for financial grants. It further requests applicants to submit detailed personal and business information and, in some cases, may lead to requests for transfer of funds to international accounts.

The ministry wishes to make the following important clarifications:

• There is no grant scheme offered by government that requires any form of payment or transfer of funds, whether locally or to an international bank account. Any such request is fraudulent.
• The legitimate National Grant Scheme is NOT for businesses or individuals. It is specifically designed to support non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community-based initiatives.
• The scam email falsely targets businesses, SMEs, and individuals, which is a key indicator that the communication is not genuine.
• All official finance email addresses end with “@gov.sc”, or, “@finance.gov.sc”.
• Members of the public are strongly advised not to respond to, engage with, or share any information with such fraudulent sources.

The ministry emphasises that all legitimate information regarding the National Grant Scheme is available through official Government channels only. Members of the public are encouraged to verify details via the official webpage:

👉National Grants Scheme (Official Page)

This official platform clearly outlines the purpose, eligibility criteria, and application process, and confirms that the scheme is intended to support NGOs contributing to social and community development, not private businesses.

The ministry encourages anyone who has received such emails to report the matter to the relevant authorities and to delete the message immediately.

The public is reminded to remain vigilant, as scams of this nature are becoming increasingly sophisticated and targeted.

Press release - Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning, Trade & Investment