Coimbatore : With media houses mushrooming all across the country and social media channels on the rise, fraudsters are reportedly making hay while the sun shines. A woman is reportedly on the prowl in the city for gullible people who believe her false promises of landing jobs as reporters in the city, for a minimum amount.
Coimbatore : With media houses mushrooming all across the country and social media channels on the rise, fraudsters are reportedly making hay while the sun shines. A woman is reportedly on the prowl in the city for gullible people who believe her false promises of landing jobs as reporters in the city, for a minimum amount.
With ads claiming to make one a reporter through Whatsapp and e-mail doing rounds on social media, a woman reportedly called a mobile accessories shop owner and told him he will be appointed as a reporter in his own town and given an identity card by paying just Rs.4000. Her smooth talk saying that she would also give him a discount and would need to pay only Rs.3500 as a special offer made him suspect foul play. The man quickly contacted Simplicity and was told to connect the woman to our team leading her to believe that more people were interested in taking up her job offers.
When Simplicity called her up and posed questions like if we would get the reporter ID card on payment, what kind of news had to be shared or circulated and so on, the woman confidently revealed that the main office was in Delhi and all communication would be through Whatsapp and e-mail. She also added that since theirs was a YouTube channel, any kind of news could be shared and they would upload it online. The woman audaciously went on to say that even though a crime reporter ID will be issued, the person could send anything like birthday parties in their home and any occasion being held nearby. When asked about their address for communication, the woman confidently replied that all transactions and communication will be done only WhatsApp and through e-mail. On persistently being hounded by the Simplicity team for more information, the woman asked us to pay first and disconnected the call abruptly.
With "fake journalism" becoming an epidemic in our country, fraudsters fleecing money out of unsuspecting individuals on the pretext of recruiting journalists is indeed a sad indicator of how much media has been manipulated and fallen from its revered state of being the "voice of the people" in functioning as the fourth pillar of democracy.