Back in 2015, this message was circulating rapidly via social media. It claimed that you could activate free voice calling on WhatsApp by sending the same message to eight people or four groups.
When this message first began circulating, WhatsApp was indeed rolling out a new voice-calling feature. However, the claim that you could activate the feature by sending on a silly message was utter nonsense
Initially, the voice-calling feature was available via invitation only. However, regardless of how many people or groups that you sent the below message to, the feature was never going to be magically activated.
This hoax is reminiscent of an older hoax that falsely claimed that you had to send on a message to activate WhatsApp after Facebook acquired it. Another WhatsApp hoax claimed that you would be charged for sending messages if you did not send a notice to at least ten of your contacts.
For the record, WhatsApp has long since rolled out free voice calling to all users.
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Importance Notice
After considerable thought and with an ache in my heart, I have decided that the time has come to close down the Hoax-Slayer website.These days, the site does not generate enough revenue to cover expenses, and I do not have the financial resources to sustain it going forward.
Moreover, I now work long hours in a full-time and physically taxing job, so maintaining and managing the website and publishing new material has become difficult for me.
And finally, after 18 years of writing about scams and hoaxes, I feel that it is time for me to take my fingers off the keyboard and focus on other projects and pastimes.
When I first started Hoax-Slayer, I never dreamed that I would still be working on the project all these years later or that it would become such an important part of my life. It's been a fantastic and engaging experience and one that I will always treasure.
I hope that my work over the years has helped to make the Internet a little safer and thwarted the activities of at least a few scammers and malicious pranksters.
A Big Thank You
I would also like to thank all of those wonderful people who have supported the project by sharing information from the site, contributing examples of scams and hoaxes, offering suggestions, donating funds, or helping behind the scenes.I would especially like to thank David White for his tireless contribution to the Hoax-Slayer Facebook Page over many years. David's support has been invaluable, and I can not thank him enough.
Closing Date
Hoax-Slayer will still be around for a few weeks while I wind things down. The site will go offline on May 31, 2021. While I will not be publishing any new posts, you can still access existing material on the site until the date of closure.Thank you, one and all!
Brett Christensen,
Hoax-Slayer
