PM Modi offering mobile recharge worth Rs 500 for free is a hoax

With PM Modi announcing the demonetization policy, came a flood of rumours. Mind you, the rumours included everything, from the colour of the new currency notes, its technical function to the reason behind the sudden move of demonetization. Obviously, scammers took advantage of the shift on the platform and are spreading malicious links through one of the most active apps, WhatsApp.

If you have received the above message with link http://balance.modi-gov.in/, we would request you to delete the message right away. It's a hoax. The message that has been going viral on WhatsApp, claims that the Prime Minister is offering a free Rs 500 recharge to all Indians.

Like normal forward messages, this fake message also looks simple and sincere. The message reads, “Rs 500 balance for every Indian. Reforming India. Modiji giving free balance. Click here.” Later you will be directed to a new webpage where you will be asked to share personal details. By doing this, you are only compromising your personal and critical details.

Once you enter your personal details, you will be asked to click on ‘Recharge Now’. Then you will be taken to the second web page where you are asked to invite minimum 15 friends and only then you can go ahead. After inviting 15 friends, you will be taken to a new page to download and install an app.

Notably, the install app message comes with a warning saying that "If the app is deleted in 5 days, all the benefits and the recharge will be lost." On clicking the app, it takes you to a third party app and downloads and .apk file.

If you download the app, it can steal all your personal data.

Well, this is not the first time that WhatsApp is being used to share such malicious links. When WhatsApp released its video calling services, the scammers released another link with a message that claimed to be an invitation to activate the video calling feature on the app.

Beware!!