Desperation is a fertile breeding ground for deceit. The Higher Education Loans Board (HELB) has been forced to issue a red alert after a sophisticated fake letter began circulating, falsely claiming the release of a staggering Sh9.46 billion in student loans, cruelly playing with the hopes of cash-strapped university students.

The circulation of this forged document is not a prank; it is a calculated act of psychological warfare against a vulnerable demographic. In a digital ecosystem where information travels faster than verification, the fake letter—bearing a forged signature of Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba—spread like wildfire across university WhatsApp groups. It detailed a specific breakdown: Sh5.76 billion for tuition and Sh3.7 billion for upkeep. These precise figures gave the lie a veneer of credibility that fooled thousands, leading to a frenzy of login attempts on the HELB portal and premature celebrations that quickly turned to frustration.

The Truth vs. The Fabrication

HELB’s swift rebuttal was necessary to stem the rising tide of panic. While the board confirmed that legitimate upkeep disbursements are indeed ongoing as institutions reopen, the specific "Sh9.46 billion bulk release" detailed in the viral letter is a fabrication. The danger of such disinformation is that it creates a false baseline of expectation. Students expecting a sudden windfall may make financial commitments they cannot honor, deepening their debt distress.

• The Red Flags: The forged letter contained subtle inconsistencies in formatting and logo placement that official government comms rarely miss. However, for a student refreshing their banking app in hope, these details are easily overlooked.
• The Official Channel: HELB has reiterated that the only source of truth is the individual student portal (student_portal) and their verified social media handles. Any "official statement" not mirrored on these platforms should be treated as radioactive.
• The Reality of Disbursement: Funds are being released in batches based on university opening dates, not in a single monolithic lump sum as the fake letter suggested. This staggered approach is standard procedure but often misunderstood.

Cyber-Hygiene in the Age of Anxiety

This incident underscores a growing cybersecurity threat targeting the education sector. Scammers are increasingly leveraging the anxiety around funding delays to harvest data or spread malice. HELB has urged students to report these fake pages and avoid sharing personal details on unverified links. The board is working with the DCI to trace the origin of the forgery, but the damage to student morale is already done.

For the thousands of comrades waiting for "ting" (the MPESA notification), the advice is simple but painful: patience. The money is coming, but do not let a PDF on Twitter dictate your financial planning. Trust the portal, not the grapevine.