Fact check: Has Government of India formed 'Special Defence Personnel Forum'?

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In the past months, the circulation of fake news on social media has been witnessed in abundance. Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many people lost their jobs and were manipulated by fake recruitment opportunities by fake social media messages which could have malicious intent. One such viral social media message has now been brought to light. 

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'Special Defence Personnel Forum' fake message

The 'Special Defence Personnel Forum' message doing the rounds on the internet claims that it has been formed by the Government of India under the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. The message claims furthermore that the last date for the application submission is August 25, 2020, along with a link to a website - specialdefence.com. Check out the message below -

'SPECIAL DEFENCE'  Personnel Forum; under Govt. Of India Ministry of Corporate Affairs Emp. Adv No. SDPF/01/SPL/20 required both Male & Female candidates for intelligence officers, welfare-inspector, grant-executive officers, security assistants, lower divisional clerks, medical officer, barrier-guard, lab technician, fireman, electrician, plumber, driver, cook, safaiwala and table-boy. 

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Image courtesy - specialdefence.com

PIB Fact Check, a well-known fact-checking portal which works to counter misinformation on government policies and schemes, has come forward and falsified the claims made by the advertisement. PIB Fact Check shared a message on Twitter writing 'No such organisation exists under the Ministry'. Check out their tweet below - 

A quick look at the website shared along with the fake message reveals a registration page, which asks users to fill in details about them like their name, mobile number, address, email and gender. Interestingly, a website which claims to provide recruitment does not ask users to fill in their professional history or their CVs, which is a common requirement for websites of similar nature. It could be possible that after filling in the details, users are sent targetted advertisements on their email or phone number.  

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As the message about 'Special Defence Personnel Forum' started doing rounds on the internet, people took to Google and searched to find whether it held and its truth. This resulted in a surge for search terms such as 'special defence personnel forum' and 'special defence recruitment'. Check out Google Trends Analysis below -- 

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