How to spot a fake opportunity

The simplest rule, and the one worth remembering above everything else on this page: nobody from AYC will ever ask you to pay. Not to register, not to apply, not to be shortlisted, not to receive a certificate, and not to have a card posted to you. If anyone asks, they are not us.

Fake opportunities usually share a few features. They ask for a fee, and they have a reason for it — a registration charge, a processing charge, a deposit that will be refunded, a payment to "secure your place". They create urgency, because urgency stops people checking. They ask you to pay a person rather than an organisation, often by mobile money to a personal number. And the offer is unusually good for how little they know about you.

Be careful with documents too. A programme may legitimately ask to see identification at some point, usually once you have been accepted. It should not need your bank details, your PIN, or a photograph of your card. No legitimate programme needs a password.

Check what you are looking at. Every organisation on AYC that can publish has been verified, and you can read its profile in the partner directory. Every certificate has a serial anyone can check. If a message claims to come from AYC, look at whether the address ends in aycafrica.com, and be aware that a name in an email is easy to fake.

If something feels wrong, it costs nothing to stop and ask. Write to the contact address on the programme listing, or report a concern and we will look at it. Tell us even if you are not sure — several people reporting the same thing is often how these are found.

If you have already paid someone, tell us anyway. You will not be in trouble, and knowing helps us stop it reaching the next person.