A message is doing rounds on social media claiming Taj Hotel is sending gift cards for a seven-day stay on the occasion of Valentine’s Day.
The message read: I received a gift card from TAJ Hotel and finally got the chance to stay in TAJ Hotel for 7 days for free.😍 https://www.nsknox.cn/tiaoban.php?app=jiudain
The message is being circulated on WhatsApp:
We then took the keywords and ran a search on Twitter and found similar posts:
@TajHotels 🎉👫🎫I received a gift card from TAJ Hotel and finally got the chance to stay in TAJ Hotel for 7 days for free.😍 https://t.co/QyVhHGu2qD
What is this? I think it is phishing.— vijaysavant (@vijaysavant14) January 30, 2021
The same post can be found here and here.
FACT CHECK
NewsMobile fact-checked the above message and found it to be FAKE.
We started our investigation by checking the link in the viral message (https://www.nsknox.cn/tiaoban.php?app=jiudain) and here’s what we found:
1. A ‘Taj Experiences Gift Card’ pops on the screen which reads ”Taj Hotel is sending out 200 gift cards to celebrate Valentine’s Day. You can use this card to stay 7 days at any hotel in Taj for free. All you have to do is open the correct gift box. You have 3 tries, good luck!”
2. On clicking on ‘OK’, it led us to the second page that said ”enter our quick survey. Taj will provide you with free Valentine’s Day gifts! Start Here”
3. After answering the survey questions, 12 red boxes with ‘TATA’ written on them was displayed:
4. Upon clicking the boxes, we got the ‘gift card’.
It said: ”Congratulations! You guessed right! Your reward is TAJ EXPERIENCE GIFT CARD, please follow the instructions on the next page to receive the reward!”
5. And then, it asked us to share the same message on WhatsApp.
On further investigation, we scanned through the verified Twitter handle of Taj Hotels and found a tweet where they have clarified that this information is untrue and that Taj Hotels hasn’t offered any such promotions.
”It has come to our notice that a website has been promoting a Valentine’s Day initiative, offering a Taj Experiences Gift Card via WhatsApp. We would like to inform that Taj Hotels/IHCL has not offered any such promotion. We request to take note of this and exercise due caution,” the tweet read.
It has come to our notice that a website has been promoting a Valentine’s Day initiative, offering a Taj Experiences Gift Card via WhatsApp. We would like to inform that Taj Hotels/IHCL has not offered any such promotion. We request to take note of this and exercise due caution.
— Taj Hotels (@TajHotels) January 30, 2021
All the information put together proves that the message in circulation is a hoax.
If you want to fact-check any story, WhatsApp it now on +91 11 7127 9799
Click here for Latest News updates and viral videos on our AI-powered smart news
