Can Scammers Steal Money When You Check Your UPI Balance?

LEARN WITH BOOM

It’s a general perception that fact-checking is very technical, very tools oriented but what is not often discussed is how it can also be emotionally draining and time-consuming. 

To maintain productivity and well-being, The Self-Investigation team with insights from multiple fact-checkers including BOOM’s Managing Editor Jency Jacob and Deputy Editor Karen Rebelo has come up with a toolkit which comprises of: Burnout Prevention and Digital Boundaries.

It talks about how the process of fact-checking involves high exposure to violence, emotionally complex stories and uninterrupted social media exposure—all of this leading to burnout.

Some of your body’s warning signs to watch out for:

• Sleeping disorders

• Decline in mood

• Difficulty concentrating

But, how do you tackle this? Find out more by downloading the PDF here.

DECODE

Scam or Hoax? The Truth About Viral Claims of UPI PIN Fraud During Balance Checks

‘New UPI scam’: A WhatsApp message warning about a new UPI scam has been circulating, and it’s causing quite a stir. The message describes a sinister technique called "Jumped", where scammers send a small amount of money to UPI accounts on Phone Pe, Google Pay or Paytm, tricking you into thinking it’s a legitimate deposit. 

The catch: As soon as you check your balance, the scammer is able to withdraw money from your account because you entered your PIN while doing so. 

However, is this the latest digital fraud to watch out for or just another unfounded rumour? Decode’s Hera Rizwan explains.

THE LIE COUNT

November Was Rife With Misinformation About Maharashtra Elections, 2024 US Elections

• In November, BOOM published 91 fact-checks in English, Hindi and Bangla. 

• The majority of false information we found was about Islamophobic narratives (21%), mis/disinformation around the Maharashtra Assembly elections (18.7%) and the United States presidential elections (6.6%). 

• The Muslim community in India was the main target, comprising 11% of all false claims, followed by Bangladeshi Muslims (3.3%) and Rahul Gandhi (3.3%)

  

'FAKE NEWS’ YOU ALMOST FELL FOR

🔍 A number of media outlets and widely followed social media accounts shared the image of a woman, alleging that she is Nikita Singhania—the estranged wife of late Bengaluru-based techie, Atul Subhash who died by suicide. But, it’s a case of misidentification. Read 🔗 Archis Chowdhury’s ↗️ fact-check.

🔍 A disturbing video of an alleged quadruple murder-suicide from Purnea, Bihar, surfaced with false communal claims linking the incident to violence against Hindus in Bangladesh. 🔗 Srijanee Chakraborty ↗️ debunked the claim.

🔍 A video showing a group of young men in Bangladesh giving a haircut and shave to a homeless man, was shared in India with a false and communal claim that a Hindu sadhu (ascetic) was forcibly converted to Islam. Read 🔗 Srijit Das & Tausif Akbar’s ↗️ fact-check.

🅱️ RECOMMENDS

This week's recommendation is: OSINT At Home – Advanced Search Operators with Translate

Verified By Boom is written by Divya Chandra, edited by Adrija Bose and designed by H Shiva Roy Chowdhury.

If you have suggestions about this newsletter or want us to conduct workshops on specific topics, drop us a line at 👉 [email protected] and we will get back to you in a jiffy. Thanks for reading. See you next week.👋

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