WebProNews

Tag: Hoax

  • Facebook Privacy Hoax Is Idiotic, But Privacy Isn’t – Here’s How to Manage Yours

    Facebook Privacy Hoax Is Idiotic, But Privacy Isn’t – Here’s How to Manage Yours

    Over the past week, you may have seen a friend or family member post something like this:

    Now it’s official! It has been published in the media. Facebook has just released the entry price: $5.99 to keep the subscription of your status to be set to ‘private.’ If you paste this message on your page, it will be offered free (paste not share) if not tomorrow, all your posts can become public. Even the messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. After all, it does not cost anything for a simple copy and paste.

    This is crap, to put it bluntly. Facebook will never charge you to use the service. That would be counterproductive. It already makes plenty of money off you. You are the product.

    Also, Facebook will never just turn private posts public. You always have full control over who sees your activity.

    fbmarmsstaerj44

    Don’t believe Facebook? Ok, fine. Believe me. I’m pretty trustworthy, I promise. Facebook is not trying to ruin people’s privacy – people do a fine enough job of that on their own.

    But just because this is a hoax, it doesn’t mean privacy isn’t a serious issue when it comes to social media. And it’s shocking how many people are unaware of just how much granular control Facebook gives people when comes to controlling who sees what on the site.

    Is Facebook evil? Probably not. The company is making money off you, yes. And it’s tracking everything you do, yes. But despite what some might think, Facebook doesn’t lie to you about privacy controls. They are there, and they’re rather easy to use.

    The Activity Log

    Did you know that there is a page that contains every single action you ever take on Facebook? It’s called your Activity Log, and it’s easily accesible from the little lock icon on your Facebook homepage.

    Screen Shot 2015-09-30 at 11.02.09 AM

    Inside your Activity Log, you can see everything you’ve ever done on Facebook. Everything you’ve ever posted, commented on, liked, RSVP’ed, or been mentioned in. And here, you have complete control over every single action.

    You can change the audience, from public to just friends, for instance. Or from friends to custom.

    Facebook’s Custom privacy setting, by the way, allows you to single out specific people to shield from your activity.

    Want to post something but you think your mom will hate it? Simply choose to not share it with your mom only. It’s that easy.

    Screen Shot 2015-09-30 at 11.04.57 AM

    There’s really not excuse to bitch about Facebook’s privacy settings when you can control everything from this one hub.

    The “View As” Timeline

    Also available from the lock icon drop down menu – the “View As” option. This allows you to view your own Timeline as another person sees it.

    You can enter in a specific friend’s name and check out what your Timeline looks like to them.

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    Per-post privacy

    And don’t forget, you can always choose your privacy levels for every individual post you make.

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    If you want true privacy, don’t use social media. But if you’re smart about things, you can easily control your online persona in a matter of clicks.

    And you can rest assured that the posts you make more private will stay that way.

    Image via mkhmarketing, Flickr Creative Commons

  • Facebook Privacy Hoax Still Making the Rounds, Still Dumb As Ever

    Facebook Privacy Hoax Still Making the Rounds, Still Dumb As Ever

    Every time one of these Facebook privacy hoaxes starts making the rounds, I don’t want to write anything about it. It’s like beating a dead horse.

    But it’s not really a dead horse. It’s a zombie horse. And when I see dozens of people on my feed posting the same bullshit statuses, I feel compelled.

    Facebook is never going to charge you and posting a status will never legally prohibit Facebook from using your content.

    There are actually two versions of the same privacy hoax message going around – both of which have a similar thread running through them. Basically, the gist of the copypasta statuses is that Facebook is going to turn all of your private posts public.

    The first hoax claims that Facebook will begin to charge you for its services. This particular hoax has been around for years, oftentimes presenting itself as “Facebook Gold” or something similar.

    Now it’s official! It has been published in the media. Facebook has just released the entry price: $5.99 to keep the subscription of your status to be set to ‘private.’ If you paste this message on your page, it will be offered free (paste not share) if not tomorrow, all your posts can become public. Even the messages that have been deleted or the photos not allowed. After all, it does not cost anything for a simple copy and paste.

    The other form of the hoax is legal mumbo jumbo that is supposed to bar Facebook from using your content in any way. It’s usually preceded by the phrase “better safe than sorry.”

    Better safe than sorry. As of September 28th, 2015 at 5:00pm, Eastern standard time, I do not give Facebook or any entities associated with Facebook permission to use my pictures, information, or posts, both past and future. By this statement, I give notice to Facebook it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute, or take any other action against me based on this profile and/or its contents. The content of this profile is private and confidential information. The violation of privacy can be punished by law (UCC 1-308- 1 1 308-103 and the Rome Statute). NOTE: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must post a note like this. If you prefer, you can copy and paste this version. If you do not publish a statement at least once it will be tactically allowing the use of your photos, as well as the information contained in the profile status updates. DO NOT SHARE. You MUST copy and paste.

    Facebook will never charge you to use the service. That would be counterproductive. It already makes plenty of money off you. You are the product.

    Also, Facebook is allowed to use your likeness, photos, videos, statuses, likes, and check-ins in order to target ads and promote other content. It’s in the terms of service, and you agree to it when you sign up. Posting some legalese status will never change that.

    Please do your part and notify anyone posting these statuses that they should not post these statuses, as they are dumb and pointless.

    Image via Ksayer1, Flickr Creative Commons

  • Facebook Scam Targets Those Impatient for a Dislike Button

    So you want to be able to show your friends and family just how much you hate their posts? You may, at some point, get a dislike button. Probably not the kind you’re thinking of, but maybe.

    Dislike hype is at an all time high, however, after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that his company is currently building some sort of dislike button. This comes after years and years of saying “no dislike button” to the many users clamoring for such an option.

    But there is no dislike button yet. And if you see something on Facebook telling you there is, and that you need to click, like, or share in order to activate it – avoid at all costs.

    As would be expected, scammers are using the Facebook community’s excitement for a dislike button.

    Hackread has some shots of a scam post that’s currently making the rounds. “Get newly introduced facebook dislike button on your profile,” it reads.

    When clicked, it take users to a questionable outside link and gives them a countdown clock, at the end of which the “invitation” for the new dislike button is supposed to expire.

    All it asks users to do is like and share – thus spreading the hoax further.

    Screen Shot 2015-09-22 at 10.55.13 AM

    Be patient, people. You’ll get more post response options in the near future. It may just be a bunch of emoji reactions – but hey, at least it’ll be more diverse than “like”.

    Image via zeevveez, Flickr Creative Commons

  • Facebook May Not Let You Edit Article Headlines Anymore So That ‘Publishers’ Content Is Not Misrepresented’

    Though it’s not an entirely new phenomenon, headline skimming has most certainly increased in the social media era. Who the hell has time to read every article someone posts on Facebook? Most of the time, it’s sufficient to read the headline, check out the brief article preview description, look at the attached image and move on. Even if you aren’t trying to be a headline skimmer, your brain is going to pick up bits and pieces of what you see.

    And since many of us get the majority of our news from Facebook, this can be a problem. Especially considering Facebook lets you edit articles’ headlines and preview descriptions.

    Here’s what I’m talking about.

    Take this article from Business Insider with the headline “How Mark Zuckerberg helps his friend, the CEO of $10 billion Dropbox.” Other than the creepy photo of Zuck, not a real showstopper of a headline.

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    Now, here’s what I can do with that article.

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    Basically, Facebook lets people edit the headlines surrounding article links they post because Facebook is not always 100% accurate when it comes to auto-generating them. But if someone wants to pull something and misrepresent articles’ content, it’s that easy.

    That could all be changing, however. Facebook says it’s looking into changing this feature because its “automatic rendering tech” has improved over the years. Here’s what a spokesperson told The Huffington Post:

    We’ve improved our automatic rendering technology so that most of the time, the link sharing preview does generate a title and description that accurately reflect what people want to share. As a result, we’re considering changing this feature to better align with how people share links today and to help ensure that publishers’ content is not misrepresented.

    HuffPo points to a real-life example of this, when actor/comedian D.L. Hughley shared an article that had its headline altered. The original article, a HuffPo story titled “Bristol Palin Announces She’s Pregnant”, had been altered to read “Bristol Palin Announces She’s Pregnant By A Black Man”. This led to some really quality Facebook posts, as you can imagine.

    The feature allowing for headline editing is useful. Especially when you really want to share something but Facebook won’t display everything properly. But it does have the ability to be abused. Easily. Hopefully Facebook can find a way to solve the latter while keeping some of the editing functionality intact.

  • Fake Twitter Buyout Article Fools Everyone, Sends Stock Soaring

    Fake Twitter Buyout Article Fools Everyone, Sends Stock Soaring

    Hoax articles – fooling everyone from your racist uncle on Facebook to top Wall Street investors.

    An article suggesting that Twitter had received a $31 billion offer sent the company’s stock prices soaring earlier this afternoon.

    The article, called Twitter Attracts Suitors, is hosted on bloomberg.market and made to look exactly like a Bloomberg Business article.

    “Twitter is working closely with bankers after receiving an offer to be bought out for $31 billion, people with knowledge of the situation said,” is reads. “While a deal is expected to to be reached, bankers may rebuff any suitor or work out an eventual sale, the people said asking not to be named as the information is private. In the past, Google has been named most likely to buy the micro-blogging site, but the people said there was also strong interest from an un-named foreign buyer.”

    Google’s named has been floated as a possible Twitter suitor for quite some time. But the only problem with all of this is that it’s a complete fake.

    Bloomberg confirmed the article is not one of their stories.

    As for Twitter stock – see that big spike? That’s the work of the article.

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    The .market domain was registered a few days ago.

  • No, a Drone Didn’t Crash into an Airplane

    No, a Drone Didn’t Crash into an Airplane

    A video of a small drone crashing into the wing of an airplane isn’t real, so stop sharing it.

    Or keep sharing it, but make sure you put it in the right context.

    BranitFX uploaded a video on Tuesday titled “NYC Drone Collision (happens at 00:16)”. The short clip shows the wing of a plane, as filmed from inside the plane, being struck by a drone.

    Apparently, the fact that it was posted to an SFX artist’s channel didn’t stop the masses from taking it as real, and sharing it all over social media.

    Bruce Branit, creator of the video, took to his blog to explain everything.

    “Lately, I’ve been looking for little videos to make with no budget, an iPhone and some CGI. After shooting this footage of NYC as we were climbing out of Laguardia (thanks FAA for finally letting us keep our phones in airplane mode during take-off), I thought it might be a challenge to make something go by or even strike the wing. This is the same air corridor that Captain “Skully” ditched his Airbus A320 in the Hudson after a double bird strike, saving all on-board. But I chose to make a drone zip past instead of a bird and tear off a section of the winglet,” he writes.

    “So as the internet has figured out, despite it being on the same YouTube page as ‘There’s a Spider in my Ear’ and the company name on the wing…[it’s fake].”

    According to Mashable, the hoax even spread up the ladder at Southwest Airlines. The airline even had to send out an internal memo:

    We wanted to bring a fake drone strike video to your attention, as it is gaining momentum across the social web and sparking interest from traditional news media. The communication team has confirmed the video is fake, and is working with the FAA to squash any reports of it being real.

    If achieving viral status was the goal, consider it achieved.

  • Facebook ‘Powerball’ Scam Screws Woman out of $10K

    Facebook ‘Powerball’ Scam Screws Woman out of $10K

    Neither Facebook nor its CEO Mark Zuckerberg are ever going to give you money, unless you’re a charity – then you might get a fat donation from Zuck. But for average, everyday people on Facebook, anyone claiming to have money for you is lying.

    Most of us would reply duh to that – but some of the oldest scams in the book continue to rob Facebook users of incredible sums of money.

    The latest hoax to do so involves a so-called “Facebook Powerball” lottery, supposedly sponsored by Mark Zuckerberg himself.

    A Pennsylvania woman was recently duped, and lost nearly $9,500 as a result.

    WTAE says:

    The woman was contacted by a friend’s account, but the account had been hacked. The suspect then told the woman that she had won a Facebook Powerball lottery that was hosted by Mark Zuckerberg himself. The woman was informed she needed to send $1,000 to receive $100,000, $2,000 to receive $200,000 and so on.

    The suspect informed the woman she needed to send $1,000 via Western Union to an individual in Mobile, Alabama.

    After sending the money, the woman was told that the UPS truck that was delivering her money was stopped by the IRS. The suspect then told the woman she needed to wire transfer $8,500 to an account in Atlanta, which she did, after being advised the money would be delivered to her address within 24 hours.

    The ol’ send money to make money scam – for the social media age.

    It was only when the woman was told her money had been seized by the police after her UPS driver died in a crash that she began to get suspicious. Only then.

    I guess I’ll go add ‘Zuckerberg lottery scam’ to the growing list of hoaxes that people keep falling for, inexplicably.

  • Kanye West Wasn’t Banned from the Grammys Damnit Stop Sharing These Hoax Articles

    A disclaimer at the bottom of every page on the site Huzelrs.com reads:

    Huzlers.com is the most notorious urban satirical entertainment website with the most shocking headlines and articles.

    Likewise, a disclaimer on the “about us” page of The Adobo Chronicles reads:

    THE ADOBO CHRONICLES is your source of up-to-date, unbelievable news. Everything you read on this site is based on fact, except for the lies … Why the title, “The Adobo Chronicles,” you might ask? Well, adobo is the national dish of our home country. You see, adobo is usually made with pork or chicken, boiled and simmered in a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce and other spices. When writing stories for this blog, we let the news sizzle and simmer in our mind in a mixture of fact and fiction, then we spice it up with figments of our imagination.

    Yet two articles from the aforementioned publications are spreading around Facebook and Twitter. Each has tens of thousands of Facebook likes/shares.

    Kanye West And Kim K Banned From Attending Future Grammy Awards

    and

    Kanye West Barred from All Future Award Shows

    Both articles basically suggest that due to Kanye’s latest outburst at the Grammys, wherein he walked up onstage when Beck beat Beyonce for Album of the Year and subsequently lashed out at the organization’s lack of respect for musical creativity, he’s been banned from attending future ceremonies.

    This is not true.

    Please consider the source before sharing. You’re not your grandmother and this isn’t an email about Barack Obama’s Kenyan army. Or maybe you are and maybe this is. Please exercise social media caution.

    Image via rodrigoferrari, Wikimedia Commons

  • Please Stop Falling for Facebook Porn Scams

    Over the weekend, more than 110,000 people managed to infect themselves with malware by clicking on a Facebook link. That number is still climbing.

    How?

    “The trojan tags the infected user’s friends in an enticing post. Upon opening the post, the user will get a preview of a porn video which eventually stops and asks for downloading a (fake) flash player to continue the preview,” said security researcher Mohammad Faghani. “The fake flash player is the downloader of the actual malware.”

    Ah, of course. Porn.

    Of all the hoaxes that make their way to Facebook – and there are a lot – the you’re gonna get to see someone naked hoax is one of the worst. Why? Because there’s simply no reason to try to access porn on Facebook. Stop doing this. Please.

    Sure, a someone’s going to give you money hoax? I understand – there aren’t millions of other opportunities out there for free money. But seeing naked people? Come on, guys.

    Here’s a handy list of avenues to explore the next time you think about clicking a ‘porn’ video on Facebook.

    – pornhub.com
    – YouPorn.com
    – xvideos.com
    – Literally any of the infinite streaming porn sites on the internet
    – reddit.com/r/gonewild
    – porn stars on Twitter
    – a dusty box in your dad’s closet labeled “high school”
    – Parade magazine
    – Skinemax
    – Game of Thrones
    – a 1991 Sears catalog
    – Blue Is the Warmest Color, now streaming on Netflix
    – YouTube videos on breastfeeding
    – Build a time machine, go back to 1997, and watch the SPICE channel. It doesn’t matter if you get the SPICE channel. You can watch it through the squiggly lines.
    – Load up Duke Nukem 3D and visit the in-game strip club. There, you will find tasseled boobs consisting of approximately three to four pixels.
    – Look at your own genitalia. Maybe try it in a mirror? Maybe that’ll work?

    I hope this has been helpful.

  • Facebook Is Finally Trying to Stop Those Dumb Hoaxes from Spreading

    If the grand experiment that is social media has taught us one thing, it’s that people have no shame. If it’s taught us anything else, it’s that people will fall for anything.

    Because you can’t be trusted to recognize a hoax when you see one, Facebook has announced that it is taking steps to minimize the effectiveness of such hoaxes.

    The site is taking a two-pronged approach to achieving this goal. First, Facebook is going to try to show less hoax content in the news feed. Second, it’s going to try to warn you when something is likely a hoax.

    From Facebook:

    To reduce the number of these types of posts, News Feed will take into account when many people flag a post as false. News Feed will also take into account when many people choose to delete posts. This means a post with a link to an article that many people have reported as a hoax or chosen to delete will get reduced distribution in News Feed. This update will apply to posts including links, photos, videos and status updates.

    So, the more people complain about a post being false and the more times a type of post is deleted because the poster realized it was a dumb hoax – the less likely you are to see it come across your news feed. Facebook is not deleting posts flagged as hoax-y, just reducing their visibility.

    If a hoax post happens to make it through, Facebook will now warn you that it’s likely bullshit. You’ll now see a disclaimer above certain posts that reads Many people on Facebook have reported that this story contains false information.

    There is one tricky element to all of this, and it concerns sites that publish fake viral news. Some might call it satire, some might call it unfunny lying. The Onion is an example of a publication that does satire the right way. There are plenty of others who simply report fake news.

    Here’s what Facebook has to say about this content:

    We’ve found from testing that people tend not to report satirical content intended to be humorous, or content that is clearly labeled as satire. This type of content should not be affected by this update.

    The vast majority of publishers on Facebook will not be impacted by this update. A small set of publishers who are frequently posting hoaxes and scams will see their distribution decrease.

    Bottom line – this can only be a positive change for your overall Facebook experience.

  • Facebook Hoax Promises Hot Snapchat Photos, Delivers Only Fraud

    If you’re scrolling through your news feed and come across a pair of boobs and a promise of hot Snapchats, ignore your impulses and avoid. It’s a scam.

    Specifically, you might see links to articles called “10 Hottest Leaked Snapchats Ever” or “Welcome to new batch of Snapchat leaked.”

    If you click, you’ll likely be taken to fraudulent websites under the guise of “viraltruck”, “viraldips”, or “trendingusa”. According to security provider Bitdefender, such sites have been blacklisted.

    Instead of leaked Snapchats, you’ll get a headache. That’s because such sites are usually involved in phishing, survey scams, malware, and even identity fraud.

    In all instances – just keep scrolling.

    Bitdefender also warns that these sorts of hoaxes will be on the rise in 2015. This “hot Snapchat” scam is already one of the most-circulated on Facebook this year.

    “Tabloid-titled scams will continue to affect curious users this year, Bitdefender researchers warn. A study in 2014 revealed that scams promising horrid videos and pictures represented less than 1 per cent of scams flooding the network. However, researchers expect this to grow with the vivid interest users have for anything ‘leaked’ and ‘horrendous.’

    Of course, scams promising sexy content aren’t the only ones you need to worry about. Just last week, one of Facebook’s most notorious and un-killable hoaxes reared its ugly head – the privacy notice hoax. With this hoax, users are tricked into posting a legalese, but ultimately utterly useless message to safeguard their IP rights on the site.

    This latest Snapchat photos hoax falls into the #6 category on our hoax roundup – the you’re gonna get to see someone nekkid hoax.

    There are plenty of places to see people naked on the internet. Facebook isn’t one of them.

    Be smart.

    Image via Bitdefender HotforSecurity blog

  • Faceboozled: The Facebook Hoaxes That Duped Your Gullible Friends (and Likely Will Again)

    “You can’t believe everything that you read, and that goes double for stuff on Facebook.” – Mark Zuckerberg*

    Recently, a very old and very stupid hoax made the rounds on Facebook. It wasn’t the first time, and you can be certain that it won’t be the last time. Facebook hoaxes have a zombie-like quality to them, and there’s no cure for the disease because the disease is stupidity and that’s not curable. Still, even the most skeptical among us can find ourselves on the wrong end of a Facebook hoax. What the hell, I’ll share it – better safe than sorry, right?

    Wrong. If it smells like crap, it’s probably most definitely crap.

    Even if you think you’re too smart to ever fall for what amounts to a more annoying chain email, keep reading. For your sake, let’s say this serves as less of a warning and more of a walk down memory lane – a stroll through a street where all of your idiot friends live.

    These Facebook hoaxes have come and gone, and will more than likely appear again at some point.

    The I’m a lawyer and you can’t have my stuff hoax

    This violation of privacy can be punished by law ? UCC 1-308-11 308-103? Facebook is now a public entity? Looks like someone knows their internet law. One of the oldest and most-recurring hoaxes on Facebook – the privacy notice hoax – is the most recent to make the rounds on a large scale. The specifics of the hoax message are altered slightly each time it resurfaces, but the general premise is the same every time.

    Basically, the hoax warns that in order to protect your intellectual property (posts, photos, videos, whatever), you must post a status declaring it impermissible for Facebook to use your stuff.

    Here’s what such a message looks like:

    Better safe than sorry. The news was just talking about this change in Facebook’s privacy policy. As of January 5th, 2015 at 6:45am eastern standard time, I do not give Facebook or any entities associated with Facebook permission to use my pictures, information, or posts, both past and future. By this statement, I give notice to Facebook that it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute or take any other action against me based on this profile, which is private and confidential information. The violation of privacy can be punished by law (UCC 1-308-11 308-103 and Rome statute). NOTE: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must post a note like this. If you prefer, you can copy and paste this version. If you do not publish this statement at least once it will be tactically allowing the use of your photos, as well as information contained in the profile status updates. DO NOT SHARE you MUST copy and paste to make this status. I will leave a comment so it will be easier to copy and paste!!!

    Very legalese, huh?

    By signing up for Facebook, you already agree to let Facebook do this very thing. It’s in the terms of service. Not only that, but posting something as a Facebook status doesn’t make it so. Life would be a lot cooler if it did, but it doesn’t work like that.

    Hoax stupidity rating: 6 Zucks

    The Facebook isn’t going to be free anymore hoax

    “Facebook is a free site and will never require that you pay to continue using the site.”

    That’s taken word for word from Facebook’s help page on new accounts. You may not trust Facebook all of the time, but you should trust them on this. Facebook is never going to charge you for the basic use of the site. Can you give Facebook money? Sure, of course you can – app purchases, Facebook gifts (now defunct), etc.

    But will you ever have to pay to browse your news feed?

    No.

    That doesn’t stop the paid Facebook hoax, which appears from time to time across the site. The latest breakout happened a few months ago when a “satirical” news site (read: liars) published an article claiming that Facebook was preparing to charge $2.99 per month for the service. You may remember it as that one article your mom shared. Twice.

    “Facebook is a free site and will never require that you pay to continue using the site” – Facebook.

    nev·er /ˈnevər/ adverb: at no time in the past or future; on no occasion; not ever.

    Hoax stupidity rating: 6 Zucks

    The well that was fun while it lasted, Facebook is shutting down for good hoax

    Facebook’s revenue for the third quarter of 2014 totaled $3.2 billion, an increase of 59% year-over-year. The company’s stock price has been steadily climbing for a year and a half now. It can currently boast over 1.3 billion users worldwide.

    And the site is just gonna have to shut down ’cause there’s just too dang many of you.

    That’s the logic behind another common hoax – the Facebook shutting down hoax. Like the privacy notice hoax, this one usually comes with a copypasta message that one MUST post as a status update … or else.

    It has looked like this in the past:

    Dear Facebook members, Facebook is supposed to be closing down March 15th because it is becoming very overpopulated. There have been many members complaining that Facebook is becoming very slow. Records show that there are many active Facebook members and also many new members. We will be sending this message around to see if members are active or not. If you are active please send to 15 other users using copy+paste to show that you are still active. Those who do not send this message within 2 weeks will be deleted without hesitation to make more space. Send this me>ssage to all of your friends to show that you are still active and you will not be deleted. Founder of Facebook. Remember to send this to 15 other people so your account wont be deleted.

    Trust me, Facebook knows if you’re active or not. It also knows that you very just looking at buying a new pair of pants on Amazon, but stopped just before checkout, and that you sure would like to be reminded of that fact with an ad. But that’s another story.

    This hoax first appeared many years ago, and has popped back up a few times since 2011. At one point, the hoax spread enough to force Facebook to issue a statement of sorts on the matter.

    Facebook will probably outlive you, sadly. As will Mark Zuckerberg and his baby-eating regimen.**

    Hoax stupidity rating: 9 Zucks

    The Facebook Drug Task Force hoax

    Though it’s probably a good idea to avoid making your drug buys on Facebook, you don’t need to worry about the admittedly scary-sounding entity known as the Facebook Drug Task Force.

    This hoax has only seen widespread attention once – last August – but you can be pretty sure that it’ll rear its ugly head again at some point. An article on another one of those “satire” sites made the rounds last year, claiming that Facebook was going to start monitoring all messages with a special unit called the Facebook Drug Task Force.

    Panic ensued, and the story scared people enough that they were able to ignore the completely unbelievable elements to the story – mainly all of it, but especially references to a “corporately held jail cell” for offenders.

     

    Hoax stupidity rating: 5 Zucks (only because the DEA is totally impersonating people on Facebook, so this isn’t that much of a stretch)

    The Facebook is going to donate $X to cancer babies for every share! hoax

    Sharing something on Facebook can shed light on a social malady and raise awareness for its cause – but that’s all it’s going to do. Facebook is never going to donate any money to a cause just because you shared a photo.

    Whether it’s starving kids, a mermaid girl, or an injured boy who was shot by his stepfather, your share is not going to help – at least on a monetary level. If you want to do your research and find out whether or not the story behind the hoax is actually real (it probably isn’t), that’s a worthwhile use of your time. If it turns out to be real, there’ll surely be a real donation page.

    Hoax stupidity rating: 7 Zucks

    The you’re gonna get to see someone nekkid hoax

    The promise of seeing someone without their clothes on, possibly touching another person who also finds themselves sans clothing, has caused plenty of dumb decisions. I won’t act like sharing a Facebook video is the worst of these, but it ain’t good.

    Whether it’s a Rihanna sex tape, or just some random girl whom “you won’t believe what she’s wearing in the grocery!”

    Spreading this type of hoax is often more dangerous than just annoying, as clicking on the links usually results in some sort of phishing attempt or malware install.

    If someone’s peddling porn on Facebook, ignore. There are plenty of other places on the internet for that.

    Hoax stupidity rating: 4 Zucks

    The Facebook Gold hoax

    Ah, Facebook Gold: The elite club you never knew you wanted to join. This hoax suggests that users can, if they want, pay a certain price to activate a “Facebook Gold” membership. Either that or share a message like this to their friends:

    It’s official. Communication media. FACEBOOK has just published its price. fee of $? ($ 9.99), to become a member of “gold” and keep your privacy as it is. If you paste this on your wall will be completely free. Otherwise, tomorrow all your documents can become public. Even those messages that you have deleted or photos that you have not authorized …… not cost you anything, copy and paste

    Either way you get Facebook Gold (free or paid), the point is that it protects you from having your private info dumped on the web for all to see.

    As always, if it sounds ridiculous, it is ridiculous. This kind of ties in to a previously-discussed hoax, as Facebook is never going to make you pay to use the service for any reason. Facebook also will never make all of your private information public – at least not on their terms.

    Hoax stupidity rating: 7 Zucks

    The someone is going to give YOU money hoax

    Remember this picture?

    In the winter of 2013, that image of former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates was shared millions upon million of times on Facebook. Why? Why not is a better question. The one-time richest man in the world is going to give me $5,000? Just for clicking the share button once? That’s so awesome it’s nearly unbelievable!

    Of course, this is the line of thinking that gets you into trouble. Turns out, the viral image was simply a poorly-executed photoshop job.

    It’s not just the super-rich who want to give you, ordinary Joe, impressive sums of money on Facebook. Ordinary Joes who just won the lottery want to give you money too!

    Nobody, other than your grandparents, want to give you money.

    Hoax stupidity rating: 10 Zucks

    – – – – – – – – – –

    Well that was fun. What did I miss? What’s the dumbest Facebook hoax you’ve seen someone fall for?

    – – – – – – – – – –

    *Did Mark Zuckerberg really say that? No, of course not.
    ** Also not true.

  • Ricky Martin Isn’t Dead, Just Chillin in #Heaven

    Ricky Martin is alive and well, relaxing on the beach in #heaven.

    Martin is the latest victim of the ubiquitous celebrity death hoax, as the internet killed him off over the weekend.

    The hoax seems to have originated from a YouTube video, in which a poorly-dubbed official at a press conference reports the singer had been killed in a car crash. The video also shows what is supposed to be footage of the actual crash. An accompanying “report” said that Martin had been driving his brand new BMW over the speed limit and lost control of the car, swerving violently and ultimately slamming into a retaining wall and bursting into flames.

    It’s quite the gruesome end for the pop star – and it’s also completely untrue.

    Martin took to Instagram to confirm his continued existence, acknowledging the hoax in a pretty funny way.

    Hello from #heaven.

    Una foto publicada por Ricky (@ricky_martin) el

    #Sunset in #heaven

    Una foto publicada por Ricky (@ricky_martin) el

    The video, published on January 3, has already amassed nearly 400,000 views. This is how fast things spread, people. Stay skeptical.

  • Facebook Privacy Hoax Returns to Dupe the Highly Dupable

    Don’t be the guy who posts that completely useless privacy notice on Facebook … again. Hey, better safe than sorry, right?

    Wrong. Just say no.

    A hoax as old as any (and there are a lot inside the Facebook bubble) has resurfaced, tricking a new round of users (and likely some of the same) into posting a completely meaningless privacy message as a status update. It’s a slightly different version of the same old – a decree of sorts stating that Facebook is no longer allowed to use your content.

    Except they are, and they do.

    Here’s an example of what you may see floating around your news feed:

    Better safe than sorry. The news was just talking about this change in Facebook’s privacy policy. As of January 5th, 2015 at 6:45am eastern standard time, I do not give Facebook or any entities associated with Facebook permission to use my pictures, information, or posts, both past and future. By this statement, I give notice to Facebook that it is strictly forbidden to disclose, copy, distribute or take any other action against me based on this profile, which is private and confidential information. The violation of privacy can be punished by law (UCC 1-308-11 308-103 and Rome statute). NOTE: Facebook is now a public entity. All members must post a note like this. If you prefer, you can copy and paste this version. If you do not publish this statement at least once it will be tactically allowing the use of your photos, as well as information contained in the profile status updates. DO NOT SHARE you MUST copy and paste to make this status. I will leave a comment so it will be easier to copy and paste!!!

    Of course, by using Facebook, you’ve already agreed to this:

    “For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License).”

    Posting a status doesn’t change that. It never will. Posting a status will also not save that little boy with cancer. Facebook’s not going to donate to his cause. Also, he doesn’t exist. Facebook’s never going to charge a monthly fee either. There’s no Facebook Drug Task Force, and the site isn’t shutting down because it’s overpopulated.

    Please, skip the privacy notice and get back to posting quizzes. Your friends will be less annoyed.

  • “Drunk Girl” Video Is A Viral Hoax, Completely Faked

    “‘Drunk girl in public’ prank will make you lose faith in humanity” read the headlines of Metro, Blender Fox, and London Report. The “Drunk Girl” video went viral, garnering 4.5 million views, and showcasing a series of men conspiring to take advantage of an intoxicated Los Angeles woman as she walks down Hollywood Boulevard in the middle of the day.

    Yesterday The Smoking Gun reported that the viral video titled “Drunk Girl In Public”, despite being advertised as a “social experiment” spun to appear authentic to viewers, is actually faked and scripted.

    Stephen Zhang, 20, the creator of the video, apparently tried to profit off the trend of the 35 million-view Hollaback! video that showed a woman enduring street harassment through catcalls as she walked across New York City.

    “Drunk Girl In Public” stars actress Jennifer Box, 24, who plays a woman swaying down a street and taking swallows of beer from a paper bag in broad daylight. As time passes, a few men approach and try to take advantage of her.

    On first viewing it seemed real, but everyone but the bystanders in the video is an actor.

    If you ever wondered why any of these supposed lowlifes didn’t have their faces blurred, it’s because they were aware of their participation. Blurred faces of people are usually a result of the lack of consent from a signed release form. In this case, the crew behind “Drunk Girl In Public” took advantage of the actors’ verbal contract.

    The men in video are seen trying to lure Box back to their home or car were all recruited by Zhang and his coworker Seth Leach. Before the video was shot, Leach posted on his Facebook page that he was, “Shooting some videos in LA all day Thursday and need a good actress. If you live in Los Angeles or have a friend who does and is an actress, tag them/hit me up!”

    So why were the male actors participating in a video that would otherwise defame them and potentially ruin their lives? They were duped with the premise that it was for comedy.

    “A couple people asked me if I’d be part of their video, if I wouldn’t mind ‘acting out a little skit,’” Josh Blaine, 32, told The Huffington Post.

    “They told me I needed to pretend to pick up this drunk girl and try to take her home, and that it would be really funny.”

    Blaine, the shaggy haired man who wore sunglasses in the video drives a Hollywood tour bus. He said that the filmmakers fooled him into thinking that he’d be playing a character in a comedic short film.

    Blaine also told The Huffington Post that although he gave the producers of the film his verbal consent to use the footage of him, he was shocked to find later that he was portrayed as a sexual predator in a supposed social experiment played off as real.

    “I didn’t expect them to try to make me look like some sexual predator.”

    Blaine mentioned in a message to his Facebook friends that he did “a favor for some camera crew guess this is what I get for being agreeable to [sic] someones project.” He added, “It was supposed to be a funny skit. Here’s to watching back with virtually no friends. fuck my life.”

    One of the other purported predators in the video is street musician “Ashtray”, a man who makes a living on the streets of Hollywood Boulevard by playing buckets as drums.

    Mike “Mokii” Koshak, the backwards cap blue tank top wearing man in the video works as a sales representative for LA Epic, a firm that sets up nightclub crawls. In the video, Koshak offers Box to come back to his place for “more beer.”

    Christine Peters, Koshak’s boss and LA Epic owner told The Smoking Gun that “Mokii was taken advantage of” when asked to “say a couple of lines for a comedy sketch.” Peters said, “They made it seem like he was trying to take the girl home.” If you watch the video closely, you’ll notice that Koshak is wearing a company t-shirt and hat, to which Peters said she was upset that the firm was “dragged into it,” since they “don’t condone such behavior.”

    Koshak posted on Facebook to assure his friends that the “Drunk Girl In Public” video “was all staged and all of the people in it were acting,” and that the clip “does not portray myself or any of the other people in it correctly.”

    “It’s a false ass portrayal and I was lied to about what the video even was. Faulty ass shit.”

    Leach happened to see Koshak’s Facebook posts and sent him a private message, acknowledging the video was staged, but typing:

    “The important thing to consider is that the video is going to get you well known and have a future with us and our company.”

    Leach promised Koshak a night of free drinks, and continued that “We are going to be huge and you are apart of it.”

    “Just go with it dude, you are in our team now and we will take care of you.”

    In response to the overwhelming attention that “Drunk Girl In Public” received, Leach posted earlier this week that the video was “on the homepage of pretty much every news and media website you can think of.”

    Due to The Smoking Gun breaking the story, a number of YouTube users weighed in to comment on the original video, stating that the general public was fooled and bought into it.

    YouTube user Rob Dyke typed:

    “This video bases its success off of the facts that…

    1) Most people are idiots and will believe anything
    2) Most people LOOKING for these kinds of blatant issues will believe it even if it’s obviously staged
    3) Rape is evil and men are evil therefore men are evil rapists

    Stephen Zhang, you have CONTRIBUTED to the problem. You have exploited “rape culture” in order to turn a profit and get some attention. If you weren’t already exposed for staging this video, I would have loved to have strung you up. You’re pathetic. Sick and tired of these bullshit “social experiments”.”

    Despite this individual video being a completely fake, it does not mean that those type of behaviors don’t exist in the world. One woman who wrote an essay for The Frisky mentioned that she encountered similar sexual assaults.

    Claim for defamation lawsuit, anyone?

  • Facebook Monthly Fee Hoax Resurfaces, Is Still Incredibly Stupid

    “Facebook is a free site and will never require that you pay to continue using the site.”

    You may not trust Facebook all of the time, but you should trust them on this. Facebook’s business model does not and will not include charging a subscription fee to use the service. It’s not going to happen.

    Every few months, a hoax as old as time itself pops up and makes the rounds, however. The hoax always says that Facebook is preparing to start charging users to continue to use the service, and the only way to stop the wheels from turning is to post a status update or share some bullshit image. Oftentimes these types of hoaxes are part of something sinister – a malware or phishing scam.

    That’s not the case this time. The newest Facebook Fee hoax can be sourced to an “article” on the “satirical” site National Report. The article stated that starting November 1st, Facebook would begin charging $2.99 per month to use the service. It told people to post a status claiming “I AM POOR FACEBOOK PLEASE WAIVE MY MONTHLY FEE” if they wanted to keep using the site for free.

    And…

    People obliged.

    Post by Jimmy Salas.

    That’s one of a lot.

    Facebook is never going to charge a fee. There’s no such thing as Facebook Gold. Facebook isn’t shutting down because it’s overpopulated. There’s no such thing as a Facebook drug task force.

    Please stop sharing dumb articles.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Betty White Isn’t Dead, Just the Victim of a Bad Pun

    Betty White, the 92-year-old comedienne and actress who seems to only get better with age, is fine. Despite what you may have heard on Twitter, White is not dead.

    But she is the victim of a bad pun.

    ‘Satirical’ news site Empire News published an article on Wednesday titled “Actress Betty White, 92, Dyes Peacefully In Her Los Angeles Home.”

    Dyes? Dies? Homophones? Get it?

    Of course this article, coupled with the the inability of many to stop and think about the difference between ‘die’ and ‘dye’, led to White being killed, again, on social media. This isn’t the first time and it won’t be the last time that the internet has declared Betty White a goner, but it’s the first time she’s been offed with a hair dyeing joke.

    Lucky for all of us, one of America’s national treasures is alive and well.

    From the LA Times:

    White’s agent, Jeff Witjas, assured the Los Angeles Times that the actress was alive and well. “She is on the set shooting ‘Hot in Cleveland’ right now,” he said.

    Hurry up, Facebook. We need more of those satire tags, stat. And as far as Betty White’s concerned – she’ll probably outlive us all.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • ‘Facebook Drug Task Force’ Hoax Shows Desperate Need for More Satire Tags

    Last week, Facebook began reminding idiots that The Onion, as well as articles from other “satirical” sources, were in fact satire. And like a beaming white patronus in the forest of idiocy, thousands of clueless souls stepped up to provide an immediate example of why Facebook is doing this.

    Despite what your stoner nephew may have posted this week, Facebook is not operating its own drug task force and the non existent thing that will never exist has not made any arrests.

    Shared hundreds of thousands of times on the social network, an article from The National Report entitled ‘Facebook Drug Task Force to Begin Monitoring All Messages October 1st’ struck fear in the hearts of people who frequently discuss drugs on Facebook.

    National Report is a website specializing in writing things that aren’t true. It’s satire. Whatever.

    Supposed quotes from a DEA spokesman like “The marijuana junkies think they can socialize on the line with their fellow druggies, well, not on my watch – We’re gonna read their messages, we’re gonna build cases against them, and we’re gonna put em’ all in prison, it’s going to be beautiful…”

    …and mentions of Menlo Park’s “first corporately held jail cell” failed to tip off thousands of people that the article they were reading maybe, just maybe, wasn’t entirely on the level.

    And so a panic of sorts ensued.

    To be fair to @ZEEN_BALL, they’re not wrong about that access to mic and camera part.

    Facebook doesn’t care what you’re talking about, unless they can sell you something. Still, just to be safe, I wouldn’t make a habit of carrying out your drug deals on Facebook

    Image via Jimmy Kimmel Live, YouTube

  • Orange Is The New Black Wasn’t Canceled, It’s Just a Dumb Hoax

    Orange Is The New Black Wasn’t Canceled, It’s Just a Dumb Hoax

    Despite what you might have read over the weekend, the ladies of Litchfield will be back for a third season.

    Self-proclaimed “satirical and entertainment website” Empire News published an article on Friday with the clickbaity headline “Netflix Pulls Plug On Orange Is The New Black; The Reason Why May Shock You”. In it, we learned that Orange Is The New Black had been unexpectedly yanked from Netflix’s streaming lineup after a dustup between CEO Reed Hastings and show creator Jenji Kohan. The article said that Hastings demanded more male leads for the female-dominated show.

    Here was the reason that may shock you:

    “A woman’s place is in the home, in the kitchen, taking care of children.” Hastings told San Jose Mercury News reporter Noah Houpt as he was leaving Netflix headquarters Monday afternoon. “A woman in jail? How does anyone even watch this show in the first place? It’s like we took everything bad about OZ, and make this show with the leftovers.”

    Even with that nugget of ridiculousness, the post blew up, with thousands of commenters expressing their outrage.

    Fucking bullshit!! Hastings, this is 2014 get ur head out of the 1950’s fucking douchebag!!
    , wrote one angry reader.

    The article spread rapidly via social media channels over the weekend. The rumor got so huge, that Netflix had to publicly refute it.

    This shit to the bull, as Taystee would say, was an exercise in mass trolling and another example of what can happen when people mindlessly click “share”.

    Orange Is The New Black will most definitely return for a third season, and likely more than that. It’s the most-popular show on Netflix, and it just netted the company 12 Emmy nominations.

    Think before you share, ya buncha goofs.

  • KFC Scarred Little Girl Was A Hoax

    The story of a badly disfigured little girl, who was asked to leave a Mississippi KFC restaurant, may have been a complete hoax.

    According to the Laurel Leader-Call, the allegations that three-year-old Victoria Wilcher and her grandmother were asked to leave the Jackson restaurant because she was scaring the other customers are false.

    “They just told us, they said, ‘We have to ask you to leave because her face is disrupting our customers,’” Kelly Mullins, Victoria’s grandmother said at the time of the alleged incident. “[Victoria] just cried the whole way home … She won’t look in the mirror.”

    Now, after a thorough investigation, it is believed that neither Kelly nor Victoria were at the restaurant as they claimed to be. Investigators reviewed the surveillance cameras in both the Meadowbrook and Woodrow Wilson KFC locations in Jackson and never saw a woman and child, matching Victoria’s description, in either restaurant on May 15.

    “I ordered a sweet tea and mashed potatoes and gravy,” Kelly said. “I sat down at the table and started feeding her and the lady came over and said that we would have to leave, because we were disturbing other customers, that Victoria’s face was disturbing other customers.”

    Again, investigators found no transaction that included mashed potatoes and gravy and a sweet tea on the date the incident was supposed to have happened.

    Until the investigation is complete no one with KFC, including Jackson franchise owner Kirk Hannon, will comment on the incident. However, they did release the following statement.

    “We continue to take this report seriously, and of course have great sympathy for Victoria and her family. Since we have so far not been able to verify the incident in our internal investigation, we have also hired a third-party consultant to conduct an independent investigation to help us resolve this matter,” the statement read.

    “We have always prided ourselves on respect for all people and we will continue to emphasize this to all our employees. In addition, regardless of the outcome of the current investigation, KFC Corporation has committed $30,000 to assist with Victoria’s medical bills,” the statement added. “Along with the KFC Corporation, we are determined to get to the truth and address the situation appropriately.”

    So, was the story simply a hoax to raise money for Victoria’s medical bills? That is what many people are thinking seeing as though Victoria’s gofundme.com fundraising site had only raised $600 prior to the news stories, and now has raised a whopping $135,000.

    However, Vitoria’s family is adamant that the story is not a hoax. Teri Rials Bates, Victoria’s aunt, took to Victoria’s Facebook Page called Victoria’s Victories to try and set the record straight. “I promise its not a hoax, I never thought any of this would blow up the way it has. The article circling the web calling this a hoax is untrue. The article it self say the investigation is not complete. It is not over until KFC releases a statement,” the Facebook post read.

    “The media outlet running this story is not connected with KFC. The family has not asked for anything, a attorney is handling all the media publicity for the family pro bono. Please do not believe untrue media. I have personally watched this family go without to provide for Victoria,” the post continued. “They have not and would not do anything to hurt Victoria in any way.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Ryan Gosling Hoax Fools Millions Of Facebook Users

    Nearly one million Facebook users were duped over the weekend when a fake post allegedly from Ryan Gosling started circulating on the Internet.

    The post came from a page deliberately making people think it was from Gosling. The post was accompanied by a picture of Ryan holding a baby boy. The hoax revealed that Gosling had adopted the young boy after the boy’s mother passed away from cancer. The post ended with “Ryan” explaining that he had to give the boy up when his biological father fought for custody.

    This touching story fooled hundreds of thousands of people, and had people feeling very emotional for the real Ryan. Below is the post as it read on Facebook:

    “This father’s day, I’ve decided to tell the story of how I became a father,” the post began. “This little guy was only 9 months old when I became his dad. His mom and I were great friends before she passed away from cancer. I promised her, I’d always look after him. So, I had decided to step up and become his dad. He brought me so much joy. He was my everything. 1 year later after the adoption, his biological father wanted him. Of course, I put up a fight, but he won. That 1 year of being his father taught me how to love unconditionally. We have to stop and be thankful for our children and children should stop and be thankful for their parents. What I truly learned most of all is, every child needs love.”

    At the end of the post, there was a link to another site that was selling a Ryan Gosling T-shirt that reads “Young Wild and Free.” The store claims that the money from each shirt ( $22.50) will be donated to the Orphanage Home Foundation, which does not exist.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons