Received WhatsApp message about Google giving 'free Internet for everyone'? It's a hoax

A Stomper had alerted Stomp to a hoax that was circulating on WhatsApp, informing people that they will get 18GB of free 4G Internet data from their service providers.

The hoax, that was circulated through texts on WhatsApp, also claimed to be from Google.

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Besides promising free Internet data, the text also claimed to be running a project under Google's "Free Internet For Everyone (IFE) Project".

What's even more deceiving about the hoax is that Google is indeed currently aiming to provide Internet access to people everywhere, under Google's Project Loon.

In addition, the hoax text also provides a link to the application: ‘http://googleplay.com/store/apps/com.ife.google’.

Looks pretty legitimate, right?

But upon closer inspection, the ‘l’ in ‘google’ is actually an 'i' that takes you to the URL 'googieplay.com'.

Do not be fooled, however: The actual URL to Google's Play Store is ‘play.google.com’, not ‘googleplay.com’.

If you do click on the hoax's link (which you should not), you will be brought to a website that has the same information about the free data and free Internet project.

You will also be prompted to download an application via the website, which could probably be an adware or malware and could potentially invade your privacy. 

Should you proceed further, you will then be congratulated on having your mobile number selected for the free 18GB data, and be informed that it will be valid for a year.

To complete the offer, you will be asked to enter your mobile number, which brings you to another page saying that you have to share the application or message to 10 more people on WhatsApp, which further proliferates the scam to another 10 people.