Image of the flyer used to depict the giveaway. Picture source: ExamKingNG on Facebook.
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Claim: A viral WhatsApp broadcast claims that Gino is offering Nigerians free 10GB data and ₦5,000 airtime to celebrate Hilda Baci’s recent Guinness World Record as the holder of the world’s largest jollof rice.
Verdict: False! Findings reveal that it is a phishing tactic designed to steal people’s personal information. Neither Gino nor Hilda announced such a giveaway on their official platforms.
Full Text
In 2023, Hilda Baci broke the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon, completing the feat in 93 hours and 11 minutes.
In another feat, Hilda recently set a new record in partnership with Gino for the largest serving of Nigerian-style jollof rice. She prepared a massive 8,780 kg dish in September 2025.
Following this win, a broadcast message was circulated in different WhatsApp groups claiming that Gino was giving Nigerians free data and airtime to celebrate this feat.
“Gino Tomato is giving Nigerians 10GB Free Data and ₦5,000 Airtime to support HILDA BACI in all social media, has she is gearing up to make history at the Gino world Jollof festival 2025,” part of the text wrote.
The message contained links to different mobile networks for users to pick from.
Screenshot of part of the message. Picture source: WhatsApp
We also observed that the claim had spread beyond WhatsApp to Facebook, as seen here and here.
The personalities involved and the virality of the claim made DUBAWA investigate the claim.
Verification
The grammatical errors in this short message were the first red flag for us, so we ran a quick keyword search. This search showed that no credible media organisation has reported the news.
We also checked Gino’s social media handle and website, but could not find any report or announcement of the free data claim there. This was the second red flag.
We then checked if Hilda posted anything on her social media handle announcing this, but we could not find anything. We reached out to Hilda through her Instagram to obtain clarification on this matter, but as of press time, we had not received a response.
DUBAWA tested one of the links, and we were asked to enter our mobile number and the network we use. So we entered a number that did not exist.
After entering our details, they informed us that we had qualified but would need to share the information with other groups and provide some additional details to receive the data and airtime. This is a primary phishing link tactic.
We ran the links in the WhatsApp text through NordVPN to check their safety and detect malware, fake websites, and phishing attacks. The results identified the link as a phishing site that could trick you into revealing your personal information, like login credentials and credit card details.
We also noticed that the same format was used in 2023, when Baci broke her first record. This means it is a recurring tactic that bad actors use to steal information from people.
Conclusion
Our findings reveal that neither Gino nor Hilda announced such a giveaway on their official platforms, and attempts to verify through the links provided revealed phishing tactics. The claim is therefore false.
