DigitEye India Fact Checkers
A message which claims that the government is giving out free laptops to students is going viral on social media. The viral message claims that the government has launched a free scheme to help students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.
The viral message reads:
“The Applications for the Students Laptop Scheme 2024 Is Available
This scheme is open to all students who for financial reasons are not in a position to purchase a laptop of their own and are in need of laptop in their level of education.
In 2024 Over 960,000 students will be given free laptop to enhance their learning
Application has began and students that have applied have started getting their laptops
Register and apply here.”
The message also has a link attached to it. The claim is doing rounds on social media. Digiteye India received a request on WhatsApp to fact-check this viral claim.
FACT CHECK
The Digiteye India team checked multiple government websites to see if any such scheme was launched. We checked the websites and found no such information by the government.
The Digiteye India team took a look at the website link that was attached to the message. The link directs the user to “https://lii.ke/STUDENTS-FREE-LAPT0PS” The link has been shortened. Scammers often shorten links to continue their phishing scams. Additionally, the word ‘laptop’ in the link has been written as ‘lapt0ps’ where a 0 (zero) has been used instead of an O.
We looked through social media to find more clues on this scam. We came across a tweet by PIB Fact Check posted on August 31, 2023. In their tweet, they mentioned that the government has not launched any free laptop schemes. They said, “A notice is circulating on social media that claims that the Government Of India is offering free laptops to youth under the Prime Minister Free Laptop Scheme 2023. The notice is #FAKE. No such scheme is being run by the @EduMinOfIndia, GOI.”
A notice is circulating on social media that claims that the Government Of India is offering free laptops to youth under the Prime Minister Free Laptop Scheme 2023#PIBFactCheck:
✔️The notice is #FAKE
✔️No such scheme is being run by the @EduMinOfIndia, GOI pic.twitter.com/h43mjnJQp8
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) August 31, 2023
PIB Fact Check had also dispelled a similar claim on March 16, 2023. In that tweet, they said, “A notice is circulating on social media that claims that the Government Of India is offering free laptops to youth under the Prime Minister Free Laptop Scheme 2023 #PIBFactCheck. The notice is #FAKE. No such scheme is being run by the @EduMinOfIndia, GOI.”
A notice is circulating on social media that claims that the Government Of India is offering free laptops to youth under the Prime Minister Free Laptop Scheme 2023#PIBFactCheck
✔️The notice is #FAKE
✔️No such scheme is being run by the @EduMinOfIndia, GOI pic.twitter.com/YQcIk8LMYF
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) March 16, 2023
The Digiteye India team cautions its readers against clicking any links that they receive on WhatsApp forwards. Such links can be used for phishing and for collecting vital information about the user from their phone number and their IP address.
The claim is, hence, false.
CLAIM: A viral message claims that the government is giving out free laptops to students from financially disadvantaged backgrounds.
CONCLUSION: The claim is totally false. The central government has not launched any such scheme under any of their projects as of now.
RATING: ????? – Totally False
