Is the Government giving free laptops to all students in India? Here is the TRUTH

A few days ago, a text message started circulating with the message that the government is giving away free laptops to all students in India. The message was spread to a large number of people in just a few days. The viral message also carried a link along with it where it urged people to register in order to receive free laptops from the government. The viral text message read, “Government giving free Laptop to all the students of India. Register your number on Gov-Laptop app to get free laptop”. The message was followed by a link where it asked readers to register.

While the news of the free laptop excited many, others were concerned about the validity of the message. Fortunately, the Press Information Bureau (PIB) did a fact check on the claim and tweeted its findings. The news was not good.

Is the government really handing out free laptops?

In short, no. The government has not announced any such scheme and the message being circulated is completely fake. Yesterday, the PIB Fact Check Twitter account posted, “A text message with a website link is circulating with a claim that the Government of India is offering free laptops for all students. #PIBFactCheck: The circulated link is #Fake. The government is not running any such scheme”.

Such messages, emails, social media posts and WhatsApp forwards often are generated by scammers who are trying to pull off an online scam. These messages are usually followed with a link of some kind and you are asked to click on it in order to claim your reward. But the link either asks for your basic information including financial details and tries to steal your money through phishing, or it sends malware to your device and extracts your details through that malicious program. If you ever come across a similar message, and you do not recognize who the sender was make sure to never click on it. Not only can it destroy your device, it can also lead to all your money being stolen.

Later, PIB Fact Check posted another message to warn people against such scams. “Every link that you receive online is not reliable! Be cautious of such links that lure you into winning lotteries, providing free gadgets & data by sharing your personal information. Do not forward these messages with malicious links. Stay aware! Stay Vigilant,” the tweet said.