A fake message about the central government offering Rs 5,000 to individuals vaccinated against COVID-19 is doing the rounds on social media.
The text is accompanied by a link that leads to a website, which asks for an individual's name, name of the vaccine taken, number of family members, and contact number.
However, this link leads users to a fake government website (https://pm-yojna.in/5000rs/), and after several steps, the user ends up on a randomised page.
Moreover, the central government's fact-check handle clarified that it has not announced any distribution of money for those who are vaccinated.
CLAIM
The message in Hindi states that Pradhan Mantri Jan Kalyan Vibhaag is providing Rs 5,000 to all those who got the vaccine against COVID-19 and that citizens must register for the same via the link attached to the message.
The message also specified that the provision would only be available till 30 July 2022.
An archive of the post can be seen here.
(Source: Facebook/Screenshot)
WHAT WE FOUND OUT
We opened the link in the viral message and were asked to fill in details like the user's name, the COVID-19 vaccine taken, the number of family members, and phone number. [Link: https://pm-yojna.in/5000rs/, archived here]
RED FLAG 1: Government of India websites end with the domain name ".gov.in", which wasn't the case here.
RED FLAG 2: We noticed that users didn't necessarily have to fill up the required fields to proceed to the next page.
On the top of the landing page, a text in Hindi read, "Kalyan Vibhaag is providing Rs 5,000 as a financial subsidy. Fill up the form to apply and take the benefit of this scheme."
The link leads to this page.
(Source: Screenshot)
It also shows images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with other logos of 'Make in India', Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, and Aarogya Setu.
After filling up the details, the link directs the user to another page, which asks the preference of where the user wants the money to be debited, along with the name.
The second page of the website.
(Source: Screenshot)
After submitting these details, the website directs you to another page, which asks the user to choose a data plan for three months.
The image and the header at the top then change to 'get three months of data on your 4G SIM with free calling' in Hindi with PM Modi's picture. The question about the COVID-19 vaccine also changes to the "unlimited data plan for three months."
It also showed logos of telecommunications services companies Jio, Airtel, Vodaphone Idea, and Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL).
The third page of the website.
(Source: Screenshot)
On continuing further, a message to forward this to multiple people on WhatsApp is displayed.
The fourth page of the website.
(Source: Screenshot)
The user does not have to send the link to five people, but just clicking on it five times activates the 'confirm free recharge' option.
We were then led to a randomised website. In one instance, we were led to a trading website, which goes by the name 'OctaFX'. However, when we looked up OctaFx on Twitter and Facebook, the logo was different from that on the website that pops up at the end of the scam link.
The final page of the link.
(Source: Screenshot)
In another instance, we were sent to a website called https://hindi2news.com/, which seemed to be a website that published news from the entertainment industry. When we tried to use the scam link further, it didn't let us proceed.
THE DOMAIN NAME OF THE WEBSITE
We also checked the domain details of the website on 'whois.com', a website that stores the database of registered users, and found that the domain name 'pm-yojna.in' was registered on 15 September 2021. Although the details of the user were not available, as per the records, it was registered in Alberta.
Screenshot of the domain details.
(Source: Whois.com/Screenshot)
Clearly, a fraudulent link is being circulated on social media with a false claim that by registering on that website, the government will pay Rs 5,000 to all those who are vaccinated.
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