A generally harmless but misleading — as well as quite annoying — status update is worming its way through Facebook, imploring contacts to perform a ritual that will supposedly stop strangers from seeing their comments on the sidebar. (It won’t). [More]
hoaxes
Don't Fall For Facebook Fee Hoax
By 9.26.11
It turns out you can’t trust all the news that reaches you via email forwards. A hoax that declares Facebook is about to start charging for its services is reportedly circulating, involving a request for users to post messages on their walls that will allow them to continue using Facebook for free. [More]
Chevron Calls Out Pranksters Who Put Up Fake Site (Update: It Was All A Hoax)
By 10.19.10
UPDATE: This post was based on a hoax perpetrated by the corporate pranksters/filmmakers the Yes Men, who put out a fake press release under the Chevron name. The quote attributed to Chevron in the post came from the fake release. Thanks to Sara for pointing this out. [More]
Hot Dog Found At Coney Island May Be 140 Years Old, But Definitely A Hoax
By 2.25.10
Update: As several readers have pointed out, it’s a Coney Island publicity hoax, which probably explains why CNN yanked the clip. * People are calling it the caveman hot dog. Okay, nobody is calling it that. But one person interviewed by CNN News12 Brooklyn said, “That’s unbelievable, finding hot dogs that are 140 years old. That’s crazy, to me it’s crazy.” Another person said, “These things are irreplaceable, they’re priceless. And it’s great that they found it, and that it will be here for generations to come and see and learn.” [More]
H1N1 Phishing Email Making The Rounds
By 12.4.09
The Centers for Disease Control have issued a warning that there’s a new, swine flu-themed phishing email going around. It says something about an imaginary State Vaccination H1N1 Program, and asks you to create an account on the cdc.gov website–and if you click the link, malicious code may be installed on your system. Obviously you have brain worms if you fall for this. [More]
Scammers Get Over-Ambitious With Fake FBI Letter
By 8.20.09
We guess if you’re gonna create a failure pile, make it a big one. This email that pretends to be from FBI director Robert S. Mueller has the typical scammy touches: strange grammatical issues, unexpected shifts between formal and casual voices, a complete lack of understanding of how US government offices actually work, and an “official” gmail address. We were ready to send our information to them until we got to the end, where the letter threatens you with arrest if you don’t play along. Now they’re just getting silly.
Wannabe Supervillain Who Claimed He Poisoned Baby Food Is Arrested
By 8.1.08
Police have arrested Anton Dunn, a 42-year-old New Yorker who uploaded videos to YouTube and other sites in which he wears a black mask and calls himself “Trashman.” In the videos, Mr. Trashman announces that he’s managed to poison “millions of bottles of baby food” with cyanide. Gerber, the company he names in his threats, says it’s found no evidence that any food has been tampered with.
