{"id":1297,"date":"2021-01-13T06:39:49","date_gmt":"2021-01-13T06:39:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/?p=1297"},"modified":"2022-02-21T09:56:00","modified_gmt":"2022-02-21T09:56:00","slug":"do-not-fall-for-the-scam-of-500-dollars-support-attributed-to-who","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/srilanka.factcrescendo.com\/english\/do-not-fall-for-the-scam-of-500-dollars-support-attributed-to-who\/","title":{"rendered":"FACT CHECK: Don\u2019t Fall for This Spam Message in Name of WHO\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Many online hoaxes and scams spreading through social media platforms, especially through WhatsApp are always at Fact Crescendo\u2019s watch. We have debunked several spam messages circulating on WhatsApp. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Few days back, we came across a WhatsApp message, which claimed that World Health Organization (WHO) has decided to provide 500-dollar benefit. However, our investigations revealed that it was just another hoax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Social Media Posts:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of our readers sent us the following message, requesting to verify its authenticity. The forwarded message bears the name of World Health Organization along with WHO official logo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We noticed several similar posts being shared among Facebook users as well along with the caption \u201cFree opportunity to get a chance of 300$ with in second\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fact Check <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, we inspected that the website link provided along with the viral WhatsApp message and noticed that the link did not belong to any official World Health Organization domain (who.int<\/a>). We urge you not to proceed further to such unverified links which are most often fraud disguised as genuine offers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We proceeded only for verification purposes and upon clicking on the link; it redirected us to an external website, which read \u201cCongratulations\u2026 You have been selected to benefit from the support provided by the World Health Organization for 500 dollar\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In order to avail this offer the external website link had posted three questions relating to business type, marital status and age range as seen below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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We answered the three questions and proceeded. A message popped up stating that after considering our answers, the amount granted was 300 dollars, and requested to share the viral message on 5 groups or 15 friends on WhatsApp in order to obtain the withdrawal code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We shared the message among 15 contacts, reiterating again only for verification purposes, and even though it appeared 100% completed, we never received any code. Below are the screenshots for the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In order to confirm if there was any form of financial support as such provided by WHO, we contacted WHO\u2019s Sri Lanka office via email. WHO confirmed that it is a false claim and that there was \u201cno such financial support provided by the WHO<\/strong>\u201d and also urged us to take the necessary action to inform and protect the public from such spam message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From our investigation, we can confirm that the message being shared on WhatsApp and other messaging platforms claiming that World Health Organization is giving 500 dollars is a spam message. We request the public not to provide your personal data to such unverified external websites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t