Phishing emails sent from an unregistered domain posing as Commonwealth representatives are targeting entrepreneurs across Sierra Leone and possibly other African nations, falsely claiming to offer grant funding under the name of a legitimate international business organisation. Salone Messenger can confirm the emails are fraudulent.
A sophisticated phishing campaign is circulating across West Africa Sierra Leone to be precise, targeting entrepreneurs and small business owners with unsolicited emails that falsely claim to be from the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce – Africa and the Pacific. The emails invite recipients to apply for a programme called the Empower Commonwealth Entrepreneurs Grant Program a grant that does not exist under the organisation’s verified programmes.
Salone Messenger obtained a copy of email sent some Sierra Leonean entrepreneurs. The message, framed as a follow-up to an earlier invitation, urges recipients to check their spam folders for an initial email they likely never received a classic pressure tactic designed to manufacture urgency and exploit confusion.
The email was sent from the address program.invites@commonwealthccap.online and signed by one “Alexander Reed,” identifying himself as Executive Secretary, Grants Selection Committee, Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce – Africa and the Pacific. No such individual appears in any verified public record associated with the Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce.
The most critical red flag in this scam is the sender’s domain: commonwealthccap.online. A domain lookup confirms that this web address is not registered to any legitimate organisation. It has no verifiable ownership, no corporate registration, and no traceable institutional history. The use of an “.online” top-level domain cheap to acquire and difficult to trace is a hallmark of phishing infrastructure.
The real Commonwealth Chamber of Commerce, a membership organisation connecting businesses across all 56 Commonwealth nations, operates exclusively from the verified domain commonwealthchamber.com. Its official contact email is info@commonwealthchamber.com. Any correspondence that does not originate from this domain should be treated as fraudulent.
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If you have already engaged with this email or submitted any personal information, cease all further communication immediately and report the incident to the nearest police station or cybercrime authority. Do not attempt to recover any fees paid by engaging with the scammers further.
