Beware: WhatsApp group video-calling invite is a scam!

November 20, 2016

Nov 20: WhatsApp rolled out video-calling feature for Android, iOS and Windows users earlier this week. The feature was long anticipated and can be downloaded via update available to all users. However, the rollout of this popular feature has led to scamsters circulating malicious links inviting people to download video-calling.

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Interestingly, these links also invite users to download group-calling feature, something that WhatsApp itself hasn"t made official yet. The malicious link reads, “You"re invited to try WhatsApp Video Calling feature. Only people with the invitation can enable this feature.” Click on the link and it will ask you to invite more friends for video-calling to activate on your device.

However, we"d like to warn you not to fall prey to these scams. There"s always the risk of scamsters gaining access to your personal contacts, mails, documents etc. While WhatsApp did introduce an invite system for activating its voice-calling feature last year, the company is going with a simple update for video-calling. However, looks like scamsters took note of WhatsApp"s earlier move to fool people in to clicking on malicious links this time. To recall, the update is automatically available to Android, iOS as well as Windows users via respective app stores.

Typing similar URLs such as "whatappvideostart.com" takes you to a WhatsApp look-alike website, making it easy for people to believe its not a fake. The site resembles WhatsApp app in terms of interface and design. Also, the colour scheme of the website is similar to that of WhatsApp app. The site has also put out screenshots of the video-calling feature to make users believe it is authentic.

WhatsApp announced video-calling feature for all users on November 15. India remains an important market for Facebook-owned WhatsApp with close to 160 million monthly active users in the country. According to WhatsApp, they saw over 8 million messages going out on the day of Diwali in India alone. WhatsApp was launched in 2009 as a rich messaging service and is now one of the world"s largest OTT messaging platforms with over 1 billion users. The addition of video-calling to its platform is expected to boost user engagement.

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News Network
January 27,2020

Mumbai, Jan 27: The country's largest car maker Maruti Suzuki India (MSI) on Monday said it has increased prices of select models by up to Rs 10,000 with immediate effect to offset the impact of rising input costs.

The price change varies across models and ranges up to 4.7 per cent (ex-showroom Delhi) and are effective from January, 27 2020, MSI said in a statement.

The price of entry level model Alto range has gone up in the range of Rs 9,000-6,000, S-Presso between Rs 1,500 to 8,000, WagonR between Rs 1,500 and Rs 4,000.

The company has also increased the price of its multi purpose vehicle Ertiga between Rs 4,000-10,000, Baleno by Rs 3,000 to 8,000 and XL6 by up to Rs 5,000 (all prices ex-showroom Delhi).

Currently, the company sells a range of vehicles starting from entry-level small car Alto to premium multi purpose vehicle XL6 with price ranging from Rs 2.89 lakh to Rs 11.47 lakh (ex-showroom Delhi).

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Agencies
March 12,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 12: In the wake of COVID-19 outbreak, Internet service providers in Kerala have agreed to step up the network capacity by 30 to 40 per cent of the present capacity to meet the demand, especially in view of the spurt in work-at-home mode.

"The decision was made at a meeting of representatives of various telecom service providers in Kerala circle and officials of the Telecommunication Department convened by the Secretary, Electronics and IT, following a direction by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to look into the issue," said a press release by the IT Department.

The decision will be beneficial for those working in IT institutions. The government has come out with a set of suggestions to avoid social gatherings at public places in view of coronavirus spread. Telecom service providers have assured the government that they are well equipped to face the current situation.

The major part of Internet consumption in Kerala is made available through local servers. Moreover, global Internet traffic is very low as compared to the overall consumption. So, increasing the capacity won't be difficult, service providers informed.

"Complaints regarding the low availability of the Internet due to the spurt in consumption of the Internet can be made to the service providers to their complaint redressal number or inform state government call centre (155300). But complaints regarding the insufficiency in the current network infrastructure should be strictly avoided," said the release.

The IT Department will also demand daily reports from various telecom service providers. By analysing these reports, steps for remedies will be taken after bringing the sudden increase in consumption to the service providers.

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Agencies
January 20,2020

Washington D.C., Jan 20: An American bride asked for money from her invitees so that they can be on the 'exclusive guest list'.

Weddings can be surely expensive. But is it feasible for one to charge the guests to make up for the expenses?

According to Fox News, that is exactly what happened in a recent American wedding. A 19-year-old shared on Reddit that her cousin was getting married on Sunday and announced that she would charge 50 dollars to those who wanted to attend her wedding.

"She said that they can Venmo her money so there won't be no [sic] problems and everyone who paid will be added onto the 'exclusive guest list' which basically means you won't have to wait in line while other guests pay," wrote the user named DaintySheep.

While she refused to pay for entry into her cousin's wedding the bride-to-be contacted the elders in the family which ended up in an embarrassing situation.

"She wanted to get the money she spent on her special day back. I told her I wouldn't be able to come because this was outrageous and that I wish her well on her special day. She contacted my aunt and my aunt called me cheap and rude. My parents offered to pay for my entry, but I refused," continued the disheartened girl.

While in almost every nook and cranny of the world gifting the bride-groom with money is a tradition, asking for money from friends and family to replenish the money spent on a wedding is can be said to be a rare scenario.

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