A graphic, purportedly related to the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), which claims all Indians are eligible to receive ₹2,000 in their bank accounts while providing a link to receive the amount has gone viral on social media.
An archive of this post can be seen here..
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
How did we find out?: We looked for news reports regarding an official announcement of this kind, but did not find any.
Under the viral graphic, we saw that the link provided for receiving ₹2,000 in one's bank account was 'www.pmjdyan-dhan.in'.
The graphic shows a bogus link.
(Source: Facebook/Altered by The Quint)
Any official website linked to the government or its schemes has the text 'gov' in the link or URL.
In this case, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana's official website is 'www.pmjdy.gov.in.'
The official website for the scheme is pmjdy.gov.in.
(Source: PMJDY/Altered by The Quint)
If you click the link: It leads you to a bogus website, which shows this page.
The website opens a page which shows logos for many national schemes and a scratch card.
(Source: Screenshot)
Most of the page, apart from the 'Scratch card' square, is static, which means that it does not respond to any inputs.
On scratching the central portion with the cursor on multiple occasions, the page always showed the same amount, ₹1,995.
The scratch card always shows the same amount, which is ₹5 shy of what is claimed.
(Source: Screenshot)
The link visible at the top of this page now read 'sterling.hospitals.shop' instead of 'pmjdyan-dhan'.
The URL in the address bar changes after the link is clicked.
(Source: Screenshot)
Moreover, when we entered 'pmjdyan-dhan' in the address bar of our browser, it said that the website could not be reached.
There is no website with the same URL.
(Source: Screenshot)
More on this website: We used online domain tools to obtain more information regarding both bogus websites.
As per Domain Tools, the website 'pmjdyan-dhan.in' does not exist and can be purchased.
The URL is available for registration.
(Source: Domain Tools/Screenshot)
Using the same tool for details about 'sterling.hospitals.shop', we learned that the website was a recently registered one, in the USA's Florida.
'sterling.hospitals.shop' is registered in Miami, USA.
(Source: Domain Tools/Altered by The Quint)
If this was a genuine website for a scheme by the Indian government, it would likely be registered in India.
This is the case with the legitimate website for PMJDY, which was registered in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
Official websites for government schemes are likely to be registered in India.
(Source: Domain Tools/Altered by The Quint)
Conclusion: The viral claim regarding the PMJDY scheme is false. The link provided is bogus.
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