Hoax Message Claims 'India Is Doing It' Video Will Hack Your Phone
The viral message asks people to forward it to their friends and family which is a big red flag as most of these WhatsApp forwards follow the same pattern
Claim
"They are going to start circulating a video on WhatsApp that shows how the Covid19 curve is flattening in India. The file is called "India is doing it", do not open it or see it, it hacks your phone in 10 seconds and it cannot be stopped in any way. Pass the information on to your family and friends. Now they also said it on TV news."
FactCheck
BOOM found that the viral forward is a hoax. The forward follows the same pattern of WhatsApp hoaxes, like the WhatsApp message 'Sonia disowns Rahul' which was viral in April 2017 falsely claiming that on accepting the video a virus would format the phone of the user. It asks people to forward it to their friends and family which is a big red flag as most of these WhatsApp forwards follow the same pattern. The message would not have to depend on WhatsApp users to forward it if such a video would have been doing the rounds. BOOM had previously debunked the exact same forward which had 'Argentina' instead of 'India' when it was being shared in July 2020.
