Scams have become common on message-sharing platforms such as WhatsApp and Facebook. However, the number of scam posts has increased in the recent past. The latest one is circulating on WhatsApp at the moment. The message claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is offering Rs 500 worth of mobile recharge to users across the country. The message consists of a link and photos of Narendra Modi.
Some messages even claim that Modi is increasing withdrawal and deposit bank limits after taking all banking and personal details. The URLs circulated in the messages differ from region to region.
According to a report published by India Today, security agencies believe that criminals are now taking advantage of transition to digital payment by luring users into taking up lucrative offers. “We have received complaints that a link of a website carrying name and picture of the Prime Minister was circulated which asked the user to recharge their mobile phone by 500 to 1000 and in return their telecom companies will recharge it by double the amount,” said a senior police officer of cyber cell.
“It also said this recharge offer is part of PM’s latest scheme. Once the payment is made the website shows transaction failed by the money gets deducted. So the customer receives no bonus and ends up paying the recharge amount to the fake portal,” he added.
Users tend to fall prey to such offers because the amount in the message is quite low. Moreover, these online offers look much like government or other popular recharge portals.
"It is highly advised, that if any user receives such a message, they should immediately delete it so that even by mistake they don't end up tapping on this and forwarding it to their contacts. Such malicious links not only can affect your device, but may also seep into your phone and steal data," said Kisalay Chaudhary, cyber crime expert.
"These bogus websites try to appear like an official Government of India website or related to telecom operators to trap gullible customers. Government website are .gov.in or .nic.in but fraud websites are -gov.in or _nic.in which may appear real but do not belong to government. So all people making online transaction should be very alert about the website they are browsing. WhatsApp has been a breeding ground for such activities and spreading malicious links," he added.
