Tag: HOAX

By now, everybody knows that news is often broken on social networking sites like Twitter. But Mike Wise, a Washington Post columnist, tried to reinforce this point and teach careless journalists a lesson in an ethically irresponsible way: fabricating a story and posting it on his Twitter account. According to Fanhouse, Wise tweeted that Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger would be ...

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Guns N' Roses fans were duped into believing Axl Rose and the boys had canceled an upcoming European tour when somebody hacked into Rose's Twitter account. On Sunday, this message appeared on Rose's rarely used (but verified) Twitter account: "All upcoming Guns N' Roses dates are officially cancelled. Please contact your place of purchase for any refunds." ...

In an innocent hoax that tickles our schadenfreude bone (we think it's located somewhere near the patella?), a cherubic and awesomely named Azura Beebeejaun -- aged 10, and of Worcester, England -- lay face-down in the gutter. Azura cast her shoes aside for effect, and, naturally, a Google Street View car doddered past, resulting in a multi-angled image of young Azura on Google, looking much ...

The Internet delinquents at 4Chan never rest. Just a couple of days after the troublemakers used a flaw in the YouTube commenting system to launch a decidedly juvenile Web-offensive against Justin Bieber, the message board's campaign to send the tween star to North Korea has come to an (un)successful end. A poll at Faxo was asking fans to vote on where Bieber should stop on the next leg of his ...

The Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in April, sending the world to the brink of apocalypse, and a Twitter account under the handle @BPGlobalPR mysteriously popped up a month later, unleashing a spew of satirical jabs at BP, inarguably the most hated company on the planet. The account was fake but that didn't stop it from accruing over 100,000 followers. Now, the man behind the Twitter mask has ...

Share Facebook has become an indispensable part of daily life for many people. They use it to keep in touch with friends and family, to play games, and to track down old flames. So, it's only natural that folks would panic at the thought of having to pay for what has been a free service. And, of course, there are plenty of e-con men willing to exploit that fear for profit. The 'We Will Not ...

With countries, organizations, and companies scrambling to provide aid to Haiti after the crippling earthquake struck near the nation's capital, the relief effort was bound to be a trending topic on Twitter. But with all the positive tweets letting folks know how to help, a string of negative ones flooded the social-networking site, too. According to CNN, false rumors spread Thursday on ...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, known for his fastidious management of his own public image, may have posted a bit of historical fib on his Facebook profile. Earlier today, Sarkozy uploaded a photo of himself with Alain Juppé, former Prime Minister under Jacques Chirac, chipping away at the Berlin Wall with a pickax, exactly 20 years ago. He claims that (excuse our poor translation from ...

Although we've had our fair share of actual celebrity deaths over the past weeks, judging by the (false) news making the rounds online, you'd think half of Hollywood had bit the dust. Jeff Goldblum supposedly took a dive off a cliff in New Zealand, and the tale quickly made its way through Twitter and Facebook. The rumor became so widespread, in fact, that Mr. Goldblum released a statement ...

Sarah Palin may be receiving a surge of new friends on Facebook, but she's not getting quite the same warm welcome over on Twitter, where dozens of fake Sarah Palins tweet away. "Unfortunately fake 'Gov Sarah Palin' twitter sites r doing their thing today, So sorry if u recv false info @ fake site," Palin tweeted in response to the plethora of Palin impersonators. According to Bloomberg, ...

Pop culture was hit hard last week with the deaths of Farrah Fawcett, Ed McMahon, and Michael Jackson. If you believe everything you read on Twitter, though, many more well known personalities have died lately. Sadly, the passing of OxiClean pitchman Billy Mays was verified, but the purported deaths of Britney Spears, Jeff Goldblum, Harrison Ford, Miley Cyrus, George Clooney, and, most recently, ...

Apparently, Cuba's Castro family is much easier to fool than you would think. A couple of Miami DJs pranked former leader Fidel in 2003, and now, a Miami blogger and Cuban exile claims that he fooled Antonio Castro (pictured), Fidel's 40-year-old son, into believing that he was a female Colombian sportswriter -- posting the evidence online. According to BBC News, Antonio's blind spots are ladies ...

If you recently received an e-mail offer for $15,500 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid, you can just go ahead and move that to your spam folder. The automaker is the latest company to have its name used in an spam scam and has no intentions of giving you a deal this good. As AutoblogGreen reports, an e-mail from "Ford Motor Company" is making the rounds. The e-mail offers a deal on the popular model: "Due ...

Twitter is the latest craze sweeping the online social networking scene, a magical place where short attention spans and narcissism are the norm. Celebrities and politicians have hopped on the microblogging bandwagon, and they're revealing the tedium of their lives in 140-character-or-less messages known as "tweets." With all these squares jumping on board, we all know that it's time for us to ...

Have no fear, shoppers. Text messages warning of imminent violent gang initiations at local Wal-Marts are a hoax. You shouldn't have any problems lugging out your newly purchased 36 rolls of toilet paper. Late last week, residents in Arkansas and other states received texts that purported to be from the police, reading, "Do not go to Wal-Mart tonight. Something bad could happen. Credible threat ...