Hoax SMS sought 25 crore supporters for Lokpal Bill

During the last week, thousands of mobile phone users received an SMS asking them to call up a particular telephone number to register their support for the Jan Lokpal Bill.

The message said that the government of India had asked the bill’s campaigners to get signatures from at least 25 crore supporters. The message also said that the request has come from former IPS officer Kiran Bedi who is campaigning for the bill.

The group that is leading the campaign — India Against Corruption (IAC) — has said that it has not issued any such message. While the telephone number does belong to IAC, the group has clarified that there has been no condition from the government for 25 crore signatures.

Mayank Gandhi of IAC said, “The number (022 6155 0789) is registered in our name and we are using the number to register
supporters.

But the message that we have been asked to get 25 crore supporters has not been sent by us. It is a ridiculous thing to say that the government has asked for 25 crore signatures.”

People who want to register their support for the Jan Lokpal Bill have to call the number which gets disconnected after one ring. The caller then gets an SMS informing them that they have been listed as a supporter.