Claim
A viral circular warning against individuals posing as officers of the Home Ministry and stealing information from residents of housing societies is viral online as recent. According to the circular, the thieves have stamps and letterheads of the Home Ministry, as well as biometric machines and data of residents that they use to defraud them. The circular titled 'Central Government Services Cooperative Land and Group Housing Societies Limited' warns people to not share their personal information with such individuals. ,A photo of this circular is being shared on Facebook with the caption, "High Alert to all flat/House owners, society. Safety Alert try to be safe!!!."
Fact
BOOM found that the circular is old and was issued for private use. It is not an official government advisory for housing societies and there is no evidence that the scam took place. We had previously debunked this claim in March 2024 when it was viral as an official government notice. BOOM had, at that time, visited the housing complex whose address was mentioned in the circular and spoken to the committee members. Rajesh Syal, vice president of the housing committee, told BOOM, "This is not a notification from the government in any way. 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 also said that the complex was a cooperative society and not a government department or affiliate in any way. Further, the circular states that the thieves would claim to be government employees carrying out census work. However, the Indian government has not announced any official dates for the census.