Fake Whatsapp message chokes Bangalore hospital board-line (Unverified, please forward)
28th July, 2017, Bangalore: There is a fake Whatsapp forward image doing rounds claiming that Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology is offering free Angioplasty from 15th-20th October. What an amaze CSR activity, right? Wrong.
All well-meaning people forwarding this image are contributing to:
1) Influx of unnecessary calls to Sri Jayadeva Hospital
2) Toying with the emotions of someone in desperate need
How to identify, a fake letter?
- Any institution worth its salt would publish this information on its own letterhead. So, letterhead being absent is a red flag.
- The notice board is without any branding, can you imagine? Ba-boom. Fake.
Here is the letter, image follows…
But, to be double sure, I wanted to verify. Here’s what I found out:
- Yes, the numbers on the letter are actually of the hospital
- There is no free surgery happening
I called the numbers for verifying the contents of the letter above. Here’s the conversation I had with a lady in full:
Me: I read a Whatsap…
Her: No, that is the wrong message, sir.
*Click*
So, please don’t forward shit like this with a message, ‘not unverified’. Just don’t.