‘Radiation’ text message a hoax: BBC
March 16th, 2011 - 1:11 pm ICT by ANILondon, Mar.16 (ANI): The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has rubbished claims of circulating a text message warning people that radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant has leaked beyond Japan and could hit other Asian countries.
The text warns people to take precautionary measures in case of rain as it may contain cancer causing radioactive particles.
E-mails regarding the same are also being floated causing panic in many Asian countries.
Media reports state that workers and school children in Philippines were sent home after the rumours began to spread, prompting the government to issue an official denial.
The Philippines Department of Science and Technology had to hold a press conference to reassure the public that they were safe even if radiation levels in Japan continue to rise.
The US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) has told computer users to be careful of e-mail scams, as well as fake anti-virus and phishing attacks regarding the Japan earthquake and the tsunami disasters.
“Such scams may contain links or attachments which direct users to phishing or malware-laden sites,” it said.
On Tuesday, reactor 2 at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant became the third to explode in four days and radiation in the area reached harmful levels, BBC reports.
However, there is no evidence that it is affecting anything other than the immediate area. (ANI)
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