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Worst Online Hoaxes of All Time

by Dan Reilly on April 1, 2008 at 08:37 PM

Nowhere is the phrase "there's a sucker born every minute" given more credence than on the Internet. Hoaxes, scams, and pranks abound in cyberspace due to anonymity and the fact that there are lots of gullible people out there. To celebrate April Fool's Day, we present some of the more bizarre incidents where people were duped into actually doing something because of what they read online. Some are sad, some hilarious, and all of them will leave you shaking your head, wondering how people are so easily deceived.

Everything Must Go

Last week, a farmer's house was cleaned out after Craigslist ads said that all his possessions were being offered up for free. The man lost thousands of dollars worth of his stuff, and, unfortunately, this isn't the only incident of its kind. Last year, a woman's niece posted a similar ad, which led to people stripping everything from the aunt's empty apartment, including light fixtures. And recently, someone tried the same thing on a Massachusetts family, but they happened to be home when the gatherers arrived.


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