New Delhi: The Centre on Tuesday debunked fake profiles impersonating the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on the professional networking site LinkedIn. 

Taking to the social media platform X, the Press and Information Bureau’s (PIB) Fact Check team informed that the Ministry of Health does not have an account on LinkedIn. It also requested people to be careful of such fake accounts.

The post also urged people to be alert and not to trust or interact with such accounts, as they may spread false information.

“Is the Ministry of Health on LinkedIn? No! This LinkedIn profile is fake,” PIB Fact Check posted on X.

At least three such accounts were identified by the PIB fact-check team for impersonating the Health Ministry. One of the fake accounts also had its location mentioned as Beijing, China, and had at least 32,000 followers.

“The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (@MoHFW_INDIA) has NO official LinkedIn account. Stay alert. Always rely on official sources for verified information!” PIB Fact Check said.

Earlier, a widely circulated WhatsApp message claiming that the Centre has launched a new scheme to address the blood requirement in the country was also flagged by the PIB Fact Check team.

The post mentioned that the government is neither running any 'Blood on Call' scheme nor has it launched any pan-India helpline number, as claimed by the message.

The posts which went viral read," Government's new scheme...from today '104' becomes India's special number for blood requirement. The service is available 24x7. After calling this number, blood will be delivered within 4 hours within a 10 km radius. Cost Rs 450 per bottle and Rs 100 for delivery. Please forward this message to your friends, relatives, and groups. A new life can be saved through this facility."

The fact-check team reiterated that the public must always rely on official sources for verified information. (IANS)