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Updated February 9th, 2020 at 12:12 IST

Hungarian Police bust 'fake news' racket spreading false information on coronavirus

Hungarian Police arrested a woman and man for allegedly running fake news portals in the country that spread the news on coronavirus related deaths

Reported by: Ruchit Rastogi
Hungarian Police
| Image:self
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With different parts of the world reeling from the outbreak of the coronavirus, a woman and man were arrested for allegedly running fake news portals and Facebook pages related to the coronavirus. According to reports, Hungarian police on February 8 said that they had put a stop to a fake news racket that reported on alleged coronavirus related deaths in the country.

KRNNI launch an investigation

In a statement, the Hungarian police said, "The Cybercrime Department of the National Bureau of Investigation of the Standby Police (KRNNI) has launched an investigation into unknown perpetrators of suspected public threats of crime. Web sites have been falsely reported to claim that more people were infected with the Chinese-born coronavirus in Hungary, and people were killed and killed in several Budapest railway stations."

"Dozens of camouflages and fake Facebook pages"

According to their official website, the police in a statement revealed, "dozens of "camouflages" and related Facebook pages were members of the same network, sharing articles about the subject of public opinion, but based on false claims. Content designed to disrupt public peace of mind has been labeled "click hunter" to reach as many as hundreds of thousands of users, according to the investigation. The goal of the site's editors was to spread the false news as much as they could expect to receive advertising revenue after a click".

Read: WHO-led Coronavirus Probe Team To Leave For China On Monday Or Tuesday

"On February 7, 2020, KR NNI staff conducted a concerted action to dismantle the network, carrying out research and seizing several IT assets. Investigators have questioned a man and a woman as suspects, who are defending themselves in the process."

Read: Amid Coronavirus Outbreak, Nepal Donates 1 Lakh Masks To China

Death toll increases in coronavirus related cases

As per the latest updates, the novel Coronavirus has killed 811 people in China after the severely affected Hubei province reported 81 new fatalities on February 9. There are now more than 36,690 confirmed cases across China. The death toll has now breached the global number of deaths caused by the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, which killed 774 people in 2002-2003.

Read: Coronavirus: Pune Man Back From Philippines Quarantined

Read: 42 Being Monitored In Nagaland For Coronavirus

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Published February 9th, 2020 at 12:12 IST

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