{"id":38797,"date":"2021-10-12T16:20:28","date_gmt":"2021-10-12T16:20:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/?p=38797"},"modified":"2021-10-12T16:20:28","modified_gmt":"2021-10-12T16:20:28","slug":"viral-message-falsely-claims-whatsapp-will-be-charged-urges-users-to-forwarding-the-fake-message","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/viral-message-falsely-claims-whatsapp-will-be-charged-urges-users-to-forwarding-the-fake-message\/","title":{"rendered":"Viral Message Falsely Claims WhatsApp Will Be Charged, Urges Users To Forwarding The Fake Message"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-38789\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Template-Whatsapp-696x5222-1-300x203.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"203\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Template-Whatsapp-696x5222-1-300x203.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Template-Whatsapp-696x5222-1.jpg 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A viral message on social media claiming to be from Varun Pulyani \u2018director of WhatsApp\u2019 urges users to forward the particular message to keep WhatsApp free of cost.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_38790\" style=\"width: 304px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38790\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-38790\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-FB-4-294x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"294\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-FB-4-294x300.png 294w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-FB-4-65x65.png 65w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-FB-4.png 569w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 294px) 100vw, 294px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-38790\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Screenshot of the claim posted on Facebook<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The message, that begins by explaining that WhatsApp is sold to social media giant Facebook, claims that WhatsApp icon will change to \u2018f\u2019, denoting Facebook.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cForward this message to more than 10 people to activate your new WhatsApp with Facebook services or your account will be deleted from the new servers,\u201d the post claims.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, WhatsApp owned by Facebook is free to use and has over two billion active users worldwide.<\/p>\n<p>The over 400-word long message further mentions Jim Balsamic as the \u201cCEO of WhatsApp\u201d and states, if the message is not forwarded \u201ca charge of 25.00 will be added to your monthly bill.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The message is also being shared in various foreign languages including Persian, French, and Swahili on Facebook.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-38791\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-Translate-2-152x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"152\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-Translate-2-152x300.png 152w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-Translate-2.png 427w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 152px) 100vw, 152px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-38792\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-Translate-3-154x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"154\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-Translate-3-154x300.png 154w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-Translate-3.png 423w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 154px) 100vw, 154px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Twitter users also posted the first few lines of the viral claim and tagged WhatsApp asking if the message holds any water.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u2705 FINAL NOTICE<br \/>  &quot;Don&#39;t ignore please read it carefully&quot; Hello, I&#39;m VARUN PULYANI Director of WhatsApp, this post is to inform all of our users that we have sold WhatsApp to MarkZuckerberg for $ 19 billion. Please this message  is warning us to be connected  off watsap any help?<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; @Xammie Bens (@bens_xammie) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bens_xammie\/status\/1445652638142324741?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 6, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WhatsApp?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WhatsApp<\/a> hello kindly confirm if the message from Varun Pulyani is real, its been forwarded to so many people again and I fear it may be fake news<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Ralph (@IamRaphael_Eddy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IamRaphael_Eddy\/status\/1447793970973655040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 12, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Factcheck\/Verification<br \/>\nA keyword search for \u2018Varun Pulyani\u2019 on Facebook showed results for posts from as early as 2014.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_38793\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38793\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-38793\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-FB-2014-1-696x601-1-300x259.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"259\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-FB-2014-1-696x601-1-300x259.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-FB-2014-1-696x601-1.png 696w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-38793\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Screenshot of a search result on Crowd Tangle<\/p><\/div>\n<p>In our investigation, we found the claim has resurfaced after Facebook and the company-owned Instagram and WhatsApp faced a six-hour-long outage on October 4.<\/p>\n<p>A google search for \u2018Varun Pulyani WhatsApp\u2019 did not show any result that confirms the identity of Pulyani or his association with the messaging app.<\/p>\n<p>Our research on Jim Balsamic -the second name mentioned in the claim, showed results for Facebook posts from 2012.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_38794\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38794\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-38794\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-Crowd-tangle-300x121.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"121\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-Crowd-tangle-300x121.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-Crowd-tangle-1024x413.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-Crowd-tangle-768x310.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-Crowd-tangle-810x327.png 810w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-Crowd-tangle-1140x460.png 1140w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-Crowd-tangle.png 800w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-38794\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Screenshot of a Facebook post from 2012<\/p><\/div>\n<p>WhatsApp had clarified the message as a hoax in its blog post back in 2012 but the claim has been attached to another unsubstantiated claim of a man called Pulyani and has been viral for almost a decade.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_38795\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38795\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-38795\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-FB-2012-300x188.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"188\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-FB-2012-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-FB-2012-320x200.png 320w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-FB-2012.png 759w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-38795\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Screenshot of the Whatsapp\u2019s response to the claim in 2012<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Conclusion:<br \/>\nThe message is fabricated. WhatsApp did not make any announcement on charging the application. The claim that has been viral multiple times since 2014 is false.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-38796\" src=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-clarification-300x255.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"255\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-clarification-300x255.png 300w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-clarification-1024x869.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-clarification-768x652.png 768w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-clarification-810x688.png 810w, https:\/\/www.hitzmakers.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Whatsapp-claim-clarification.png 1099w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n\n<script>\nvar zbPregResult = '0';\n<\/script>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A viral message on social media claiming to be from Varun Pulyani \u2018director of WhatsApp\u2019 urges users to forward the particular message to keep WhatsApp free of cost. The message, that begins by explaining that WhatsApp is sold to social media giant Facebook, claims that WhatsApp icon will change to \u2018f\u2019, denoting Facebook. \u201cForward this [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":38789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_joinchat":[]},"categories":[14,2929,12],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Download MP3: Viral Message Falsely Claims WhatsApp Will Be Charged, Urges Users To Forwarding The Fake Message<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Viral Message Falsely Claims WhatsApp Will Be Charged, Urges Users To Forwarding The Fake Message\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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