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Fact Check: No, The Government Is Not Giving A Relief Fund Of ₹5,000 To Each Citizen Amid Lockdown
Writer: Aditi Chattopadhyay
Aditi, part of the fact checking team of The Logical Indian likes to read, write, cook and laugh, in short live life as it is supposed to be. What makes her fascinated is to discover the truth behind a story and more often than not, it is either fact or myth at the end.
India, 25 May 2020 2:14 PM GMT | Updated 26 May 2020 5:05 AM GMT
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The Logical Indian Fact Check team investigates the claim that Government is giving a relief fund of ₹5,000 as a limited time offer.
A WhatsApp forward which assures Rs 5,000 as a relief fund from the government has been doing the rounds.
"FG [federal government] has finally approved and have started giving out free Rs.5,000 Relief Funds to each citizen. Below is how to claim and get yours credit Instantly as I have just did now https://bit.ly/free---funds
Note : You can only claim and get credited once and it's also limited so get your now Instantly, " reads the message.
The message comes with a link that apparently can be used to 'instantly claim' the promised amount.
*FG* has finally approved and have started giving out free _Rs.5,000_ Relief Funds to each citizen😍
— Meeti Kapadia (@meetikapadia) May 24, 2020
Below is how to claim and get yours credit Instantly as I have just did nowhttps://t.co/zVYChlp0fX
*Note* : You can only claim and get credited once and it's also limited so get.
Claim:
Government is giving a relief fund of ₹5,000 as a limited time offer.
Fact Check:
The claim is false.
Flawed Website
The message comes with this link: https://bit.ly/free---funds which redirects to this website.
Despite visiting the website several times throughout the day the message on the first page did not change.
"Left 1936 FREE Lockdown packages," the website displayed. The number remained constant which is questionable.
On confirming that one is a citizen of India, the website asks, "How much can sustain you throughout the lockdown?" On choosing any of the available options (2000, 5000 and 10000) the website asks, "What will you use your free Rs 5,000 for?" The options provided for this question are: Food, Internet or Clothing. On choosing any of the three option, one is redirected to a page which asks to share the message with 10 other WhatsApp Group.
To give it a more authentic touch a comment section resembling the Facebook layout is also displayed at the bottom of the page.
No matter how many times one visits the website, the name of the 'beneficiaries' and timestamp in the comments always reads 'just now' for all and '2 mins ago' for one comment. This remains constant.
Further, the number of likes and comments remain constant at '204,208 and '173,330' respectively.
What Is 'ramaphosafoundations'?
The link of the website contains the word 'ramaphosafoundations'
Cyril Ramaphosa Foundation is based in South Africa and is headed by the current president of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa.
Considering the message claims to be a government scheme it does not show any elements of a usual government website.
The URL does not have a gov.in or nic.in domain, which all government-run websites always have.
Example: https://www.mha.gov.in/
According to the norm, all government websites have the designated ministry's title written under the national emblem. The fraud website lacks that.
Therefore the website is clearly for the purpose of fooling people into sharing the false message.
If you have any news that you believe needs to be fact-checked, please email us at factcheck@thelogicalindian.com or WhatsApp at 6364000343
Also Read: Fact Check: No, Govt Is Not Providing Rs 50,000 To Ration Card Holders
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