Fact Check: This WhatsApp forward with list of phone numbers claiming to help students is fake
A list of mobile numbers is being widely circulated on WhatsApp with the claim that children who are in need of school books and are unable to pay school fees can contact the numbers to receive help.
By Newsmeter Network Published on 6 Jun 2022 1:28 PM GMT
Hyderabad: A list of mobile numbers is being widely circulated on WhatsApp with the claim that children who are in need of school books and are unable to pay school fees can contact the numbers to receive help.
The post reads, "Children who need a school book and children who are unable to pay school fees can contact the numbers below. Contact and send this message as much as possible. Your help is needed to change a child's life. Read more and send it to others."
FACT CHECK:
NewsMeter found that the same set of mobile numbers has been doing the rounds since 2015. We traced the numbers back to a 2015 Facebook post that had shared the same set of phone numbers with a similar claim. The same message is being shared almost every year (view posts from 2016, 2017, and 2018). This message is being shared in other languages as well (view posts in Gujarati and Punjabi). Clearly, this is not a recent initiative.
The fact-checking team tried contacting all the numbers in the list but none were currently active. While some of the numbers were out of use, some were switched off. It should be noted that the viral list does not mention the details about the sponsor, i.e., whether it is an NGO or a private/government organisation. Usually, the sponsor's name, details, contact numbers, social media handles, and logo are always added to such lists.
In 2017, the same message was being shared in the name of police officer Vishwas Nangre Patil from Maharashtra. The deputy commissioner of police, cyber crime, had clarified that the message was fake.
Evidently, the list of phone numbers is fake.
