Claim
An internal ciruclar issued by the managing committee of a residential complex in Delhi asking residents to be wary of a gang of thieves posing as government officials is falsely viral as an order issued by the police for all housing societies in the country. The circular on a letterhead, "Central Government Service Cooperative Land and Group Housing Society" warns people not to let any stranger in their house as thieves are entering houses under the guise of Ministry of Home Affairs employees conducting a survey for the 'Ayushman' scheme.
BOOM also received the circular for verification with the caption, "Alert Notice from the Central govt Service Co-Operative land & group Housing Society Limited."
The letter is also viral on Facebook.
Fact
BOOM has fact-checked the circular previously when it was viral in 2024 with the same claim.
We had then visited the housing society mentioned in the letterhead in Vikaspuri, West Delhi and confirmed with a member of the housing society's management committee that the circular was internally issued.
Rajesh Syal, the vice president of the housing society committee had then told BOOM that the circular was not a government notification. "We had heard of cases of fraud by collecting biometric data in the name of Ayushman Bharat Yojana, so we issued this notice to alert the residents of our society," Syal had clarified.
The letter further contained several errors with names of government departments changed and misspelt.
We also found that the viral message is an old hoax and has been going viral in several countries like Malaysia, Singapore, USA, UK and South Africa since 2016.