Have you received a call claiming to be from a local Goan television news channel Prudent Media, and asked questions with regards to general information about Goa and politics?
Claim
Social media has been abuzz with information that the caller was asking for political opinions of the people
The message that has been widely circulated says, “There’s a scam going on in Goa!”, adding that the caller claims to be from Prudent Media and asks for political opinions and asks for ‘numbers like 1, 2, 3, etc, if you confirm to the views of varied political parties’.
The viral message also adds that people’s money has gone missing from their bank accounts, anything between Rs 25-50 lakhs. The message claims that once you type any number, your bank balance reduces to ‘nil’.
Fact Check
Well, Goa Prism Fact Check has found out that the call being made is a genuine survey and not a hoax. The survey conducted is a genuine one, confirmed sources from the channel.
Though people have claimed it to be a hoax call, with motives to elicit money from people’s bank accounts, the channel has claimed that it is a genuine ‘mood survey’ being carried out across the state.
Due to the pandemic, the survey is being conducted through calls in such a manner as the door to door surveys are not possible at this time. The gathering of data for the survey has been outsourced to a private agency and the information will remain confidential the new channel claims.
The survey isn’t compulsory and can be answered or rejected by people as per their wish. The channel officially has said that it will be telecasting details of this survey, “Mood of the State” later this week.
Meanwhile, claims of people that money from their bank accounts going missing cannot be verified to be due to the same reason.
If a person genuinely claims that money has been missing from their account, consider approaching the nearest police station to seek legal recourse.
