A message claiming “all AP residents will receive a new welfare payment today” asks recipients to enter Aadhaar, bank password and OTP. That request is a fraud warning sign. Real programmes have named departments, orders, eligibility rules and official channels. A social-media screenshot cannot create an entitlement. A person should verify the scheme on the relevant state portal or with an authorised local office and avoid giving credentials to the link.

If victims have transferred money or exposed credentials, the immediate issue becomes financial cybercrime as well as misinformation. Officers should preserve the link and transaction evidence, direct the complainant to official cybercrime reporting and avoid repeating the fraudulent claim as fact. The welfare department can confirm whether the alleged programme exists.

Exam move: name the source hierarchy—order or official portal above a forwarded message—and the distinction between verifying eligibility and responding to fraud.

Worked example: A message promises immediate scheme approval through an unfamiliar link and asks for an OTP. An official scheme may exist, but that does not authenticate the message. Verify the URL and contact through the department's own portal, preserve the message for a complaint and never disclose the OTP. In an exam, separate genuine benefit rules from fraudulent claims made in the scheme's name.