The Press Information Bureau (PIB) is alerting users about the fake message that’s doing rounds on WhatsApp for a few days now. As per PIB, a message circulating on WhatsApp promising free internet from the government to 100 million people for 3 months is fake. PIB has marked the message as fraud and is asking users not to click on the link that it comes with. Clicking on the link of this message might result in the loss of personal information for the user. Users are advised not to pay any heed to such a message if they come across it.
Delete the Free Internet from the Government Message
The fake message is promising users if they have subscribed to services of any private telecom operators including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea (Vi), or Reliance Jio, they will be eligible to receive the free internet from the government. The message includes a fraudulent link that redirects to a fake website when clicked upon and the users are asked to enter their personal information. Since it is not an authorised website from the government, users are advised to not enter anything about their personal details on the website. It is not only you who will be affected if you come across the message in a group where there are plenty of other people (family and friends). To ensure that neither of your known or loved ones loses out on their personal information because of being unaware, it is your solemn duty that you make them aware of it and also ask them to delete the message from their device. People who believe such messages often pass it on or forward to other people and groups. This results in a chain reaction where millions of people might lose their personal information by clicking on the link. Thus if you get the link in any group or from any person, first of all, delete that from your smartphone. Further, ask the person who forwarded the message to delete it as well. It is important that people are aware of such messages and not forward them to other people which results in the loss of personal information to fraudsters who might use it for mischievous purposes.
