Free Jio ₹349 Recharge To Celebrate Mukesh Ambani's Wealth Is Fake

A message Reliance Jio is giving over nearly a lakh users free recharges worth ₹349, to celebrate Mukesh Ambani becoming the world's sixth richest person, is fake. The message falsely states that 99,000 Jio users would receive a recharge - worth ₹349 - from Nita Ambani for free and is being shared with a spam link unrelated to the telecom service provider.

This message is part of a series of fake messages surrounding Jio recharges; this time riding on Mukesh Ambani leapfrogging into the world's top-five richest persons by wealth, due to a surge in the stock prices of his company, Reliance Industries. Previously, free recharges worth ₹498 were being promised under the guise of a lockdown giveaway, as it was viral during the COVID-19 pandemic induced nationwide lockdown in March.

Also Read: India In Lockdown: No, Jio Is Not Offering A Free Recharge Of ₹498

The message has captions in two different languages - English and Hindi. Both commonly end with, "This offer can end anytime."

BOOM recieved the Hindi variant of the message on its helpline (77009065888), with the English caption being on Facebook

The claim is also being shared on Facebook

Mukesh Ambani's wealth has added $22.3 billion in wealth since the beginning, as shares of Reliance Industries zoomed 135% from lows in March on the back of deals he struck with companies like Facebook and Google that consisted of a stake sale in Jio to them. On Friday July 24th alone, he added $3.5 billion, according to a Bloomberg estimate, making him the fifth richest man in the world, worth $77.4 billion dollars. Forbes' real-time billionaire tracker too puts him as the fifth richest in the worth, valued at $80.5 billion, just $4.5 billion behind Mark Zuckerberg.

Also Read: Reliance AGM: Google-Jio $4.5 Billion Deal to 5G And Jio Glass

FactCheck

BOOM found that there is no such scheme that offers free recharges for users. Previously, a Reliance spokesperson had denied to BOOM that such websites were connected to the company. BOOM has written to a Reliance spokesperson for their comments on these forwards and the story will be updated upon a response.

On investigating the website, we found that it does not resemble anything like the official site of Jio. Even the URL of the page is offer.jio-recharge.site unlike the official site which is Jio.com.

The fake website carries a picture of Ambani, and asks one to fill in their name and mobile number. One of the red-flags shows is that is doesn't matter what name or number is inputted in the text-field. It could be a number lesser or more than 10-digits; the standard mobile number length in India.

Later, the website asks users if there is a Jio tower in their area, if the internet speed is good, and if the user supports Jio's 5G initiative, with these answers to be given in 'yes' or 'no'.

Regardless of the sequence of answers (or you could not answer at all, and it will still proceed), the website then states that a request has been put up, which would only be confirmed on sharing the message another 10 times on WhatsApp.

The site then proceeds to confirm the recharge, stating that it will be credited in five to six days.

Previously, BOOM has also debunked a fake ad racket on Facebook where such fake ads masqueraded themselves as legitimate Flipkart ads to scam people.

Also Read: How We Tracked Down A Fake Flipkart Racket On Facebook