Mumbai: Tweet screams ‘Imposter Alert’ as Asiatic Society warns about scam

The Asiatic Society at Town Hall

'Imposter Alert,' screamed the all-capital cautionary notice across a tweet from the Asiatic Society handle recently. The Asiatic Society of Mumbai is located at the Town Hall in south Mumbai. It has a library that has rare, historical and valuable books, newspapers, manuscripts, government publications, journals and maps.

The Society posted a warning via its Twitter handle on November 8. The tweet read: "It has come to the Society's notice that some unscrupulous elements are collecting money for publishing papers in the Society's journal and offering bogus certificates. The Asiatic Society does not collect money for publishing in its journal, nor does it guarantee publication, and neither does it issue any certificate. Authors must verify with the Society before submitting any papers, and papers will be published only after rigorous peer review. The Society does not take responsibility for any payments made to third parties claiming to represent the Society, or for their papers appearing in a cloned/spam journal.'

The Society building steps are among its most distinguishable features

There are two lines in all capitals shouting: ‘Imposter Alert' in the middle of this tweet and pictures of the Society's journal and a warning against a
bogus journal.

Prez speaks

Vispi Balaporia, president, Asiatic Society of Mumbai, when asked about the social media warning, said, "We were alerted that some money was being collected, I do not know how much exactly, after some people reached out to us saying they had paid money for their work to be published in our journal, and asked when are their papers going to be published? I do not know exactly how many people but it was enough to tell us that we needed to ask people to be vigilant and guard against fakes. It was then that we decided to warn people via social media. We have also written a letter to the University Grants Commission (UGC) journal section, with reference to the same."

The warning that was recently tweeted by the Asiatic Society

The president stated that the modus operandi seems to be "making a clone of the journal we publish annually, and then invite people to submit their papers for publication, asking for payment for the same. The cover page is a copy of the real, authentic journal but there are some giveaways. Look closely and one will notice that the ‘journal number' on the cloned journal is wrong."

Balaporia stressed, "People must be aware that we do not charge for submission of research papers and we give no guarantees that their work will be published."

Balaporia added that they were thinking about filing a police complaint. "We have not done so yet. We have though warned people and our letter to the UGC journal section is also a first academic step in red-flagging this. We have never, at least not that I know of, faced anything like this. The matter will also come up for discussion with the managing committee. We have a few legal experts on the committee," she stated.

The Asiatic Society is lagging behind in the publication of their annual journal. There is a backlog, but at least three journals are in the preparation stage. The Society's Foundation Day is November 26.

The Asiatic Society of Mumbai was founded by Sir James Mackintosh, a jurist and public figure in England. Known as the Literary Society of Bombay, it met for the first time on November 26, 1804. It moved into the Town Hall building in 1830.

In 1841, the Society started publishing a journal called the ‘Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society' which continues to be published under the name ‘The Journal of the Asiatic Society of Mumbai'.

Nov 8
Day the Asiatic Society tweeted the warning