Fakes

76 Viral Images From 2015 That Were Totally Fake

We debunked dozens of fake photos this year, covering everything from Charles Manson’s baby photos to John Lennon’s skateboarding skills, and everything in between. It was another busy year for anyone spreading fake images on the internet. Below, we have 76 photos that you may have seen floating around the internet in 2015. Some are…

Tech News Matt Novak

Margaret Sanger Once Spoke to the KKK, But This Photo of the Speech Is Very Fake

There’s a meme going around in conservative social media circles showing Margaret Sanger speaking at a KKK rally. The photo is fake. But… the reproductive rights activist really did address a meeting of KKK members in 1926. The photoshopped image was created in 2006 as part of a contest from an anti-Sanger blog. Sanger was…

Tech News Matt Novak

7 More Viral Photos That Are Totally Fake

Tis the season. The season for political fakery. Canada has a new Prime Minister, Britain’s got a new face to its opposition party, and Trump… well, Trump’s got whatever Trump’s got. You may have seen the photos below circulating around the internet. But don’t believe a single pixel. They’re all lies. 1. Did the BBC…

Tech News Matt Novak

NBC Is Trying to Shut Down the Parody Website Spreading Lies About a Breaking Bad Reboot

Did you hear the news that Yelp was suing South Park? Or that Breaking Bad was coming back for another season? Neither is true. But you can blame one website for starting these fake rumors: NBC.com.co, a “parody” site with no affiliation to NBC. And NBC wants them to stop. NBCUniversal recently issued a cease…

Tech News Matt Novak

Forgery Is Getting So Good That Scientists Had to Invent Keys Made From DNA

Forgery is a science–and it’s getting better all the time, to the tune of trillions of dollars. Now, a group of researchers, lawyers, and insurers are banding together to beat it with a tool borrowed from science: synthetic encrypted DNA. Let’s say you’re a wealthy businessperson. You want to get into collecting art (you know,…

Tech News Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan

No, This Fish Didn’t Come Back to Life as a Woman Was Eating It

Did you see that video of a fish “coming back to life” as a woman was eating it? It’s half-bullshit, much like half the viral videos on the internet. Despite its clickbaity headline, The Daily Dot acknowledges that this fish isn’t actually coming back to life. In fact, they spoke with an expert who explained…

Tech News Matt Novak

9 Viral Images That Are Totally Fake

Some days it feels like everything on the internet is fake. And I’m here to tell you to trust that instinct. Would you believe that some of the internet’s fakery even comes from some of the world’s best news channels? You would? Then you’re way ahead of me. Today we have nine images you may…

Tech News Matt Novak

The Pope’s Tablecloth Trick Was a Miracle! (of Modern Computer Graphics)

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, for the fantastic feats of Chill Pope! Today, he’s showing off a classic: The old ‘yank a tablecloth, leaving everything else on the table undisturbed’ trick. It’s a miracle! Except that it’s totally fake. The video showing Pope Francis doing the second coolest thing you can ever do (the…

Tech News Matt Novak

Study: You Suck at Spotting Fake Images

We all like to think we can spot a real from a fake. But a new study by researchers from the the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul suggests that, actually, we’re pretty awful at telling a real digital photo from a fake. In a study posted to the arXiv pre-publish servers, the team…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

Don’t Fall For The Facebook Dislike Button Scam

Take this survey and win a free iPad! Take this survey and win a never-ending pasta bowl! Take this survey and get Facebook’s Dislike button! Wait, what? Whenever a new product or service comes out, you can be certain that the scam artists will scurry out of the woodwork. One of their favorite tools are…

Social Media Matt Novak

Six Easy Ways to Tell If That Viral Story Is a Hoax

“And so it begins … ISIS flag among refugees in Germany fighting the police,” blared the headline on the Conservative Post; “with this new leaked picture, everything seems confirmed”. The image in question purported to show a group of Syrian refugees holding ISIS flags and attacking German police officers. For those resistant to accepting refugees…

Tech News Pete Brown

This GIF is Amazing, But Those Aren’t Self-Driving Cars

Over the past month, this video of traffic at a busy intersection has gone viral. People are sharing it as a demonstration of self-driving cars on the road. And while there’s some truth to the general idea that cars will be able to caravan and avoid each other much better in the future, that’s not…

Tech News Matt Novak

This is NOT Albert Einstein With His Therapist

We’ve debunked it before, but this photo just won’t go away. The 1948 picture above doesn’t show Albert Einstein with his therapist. The guy Einstein’s meeting with is Cord Meyer, Jr., president of the United World Federalists. Meyer, a CIA operative, was merely discussing world politics with the famed scientist. If you follow history accounts…

Tech News Matt Novak

Shutdownify is Fake

On Wednesday a website called Shutdownify.com went viral on Twitter. The site supposedly allowed tech startups facing a shutdown to craft an automated notice about their imminent demise. Shutdownify itself announced that it was closing shop. But the site is 100 percent fake. The domain for Shutdownify was registered today and has no other posts…

Tech News Matt Novak

This City In China Built Its Own Chicago Bean In a Desolate Parking Lot

When it comes to architectural simulacra it’s hard to top the ballsiness of China, where a real-life World Showcase includes convincing replicas of cities like Venice, Paris, and London. Now the copycats have come for the art world, with a knockoff Anish Kapoor’s Cloud Gate sculpture, colloquially known to Chicagoans as “The Bean.” In the…

Tech News Alissa Walker

Vloggers Faked a Surveillance Video, But Did They Destroy hitchBOT?

It’s now clear that two video bloggers faked a “surveillance video” showing the destruction of hitchBOT, the hitchhiking robot. What’s still unclear is whether the pair were responsible for actually destroying the bot, and whether we can expect more to come from their “prank.” Jesse Wellens and Ed Bassmaster were the last people to see…

Tech News Matt Novak

9 More Viral Photos That Are Actually Fake

Sometimes it feels like half of the internet is just fake photos. Whether it’s Elvis cutting Johnny Cash’s hair (FAKE), Hillary Clinton posing next to someone in an ‘I’m With Stupid’ t-shirt (FAKE) or John Lennon on a skateboard (FAKE FAKE FAKE), we’re breaking down the latest fakes swirling around the internet. 1. Is this…

Tech News Matt Novak

Chinese Police Shut Down a Huge Counterfeit iPhone Factory

A police raid in Beijing has shut down a large counterfeit iPhone factory that had produced over 41,000 handsets, reported to be worth $19 million. The factory was run by husband-and-wife team under the cover of a gadget maintenance shop. Their six assembly lines were set up in January of this year, employing “hundreds” of…

Tech News Jamie Condliffe

Fake Doctor Arrested For Prescribing Bags of Dirt as Cancer Treatment

Vincent Gammill, a 69-year-old “doctor,” has been arrested in California for allegedly prescribing bullshit cancer treatments and practicing medicine without a license. One of his cancer-fighting drugs was little more than a “baggie of dirt.” Authorities were tipped off by a woman with late stage cancer in Thousand Oaks, California who sought treatment from Gammill…

Tech News Matt Novak

7 Gandhi Quotes That Are Totally Fake

We love quotes from famous dead people. Words just sound more important when they’re coming from the mouths of important historical figures. And when we need that extra dash of moral authority, Mahatma Gandhi is one of the most quotable. But as Gandhi once said, “Half my quotes on Pinterest are fake.” Below we have…

Tech News Matt Novak

76 Viral Images From 2015 That Were Totally Fake

Margaret Sanger Once Spoke to the KKK, But This Photo of the Speech Is Very Fake

7 More Viral Photos That Are Totally Fake

NBC Is Trying to Shut Down the Parody Website Spreading Lies About a Breaking Bad Reboot

Forgery Is Getting So Good That Scientists Had to Invent Keys Made From DNA

No, This Fish Didn’t Come Back to Life as a Woman Was Eating It

9 Viral Images That Are Totally Fake

The Pope’s Tablecloth Trick Was a Miracle! (of Modern Computer Graphics)

Study: You Suck at Spotting Fake Images

Don’t Fall For The Facebook Dislike Button Scam

Six Easy Ways to Tell If That Viral Story Is a Hoax

This GIF is Amazing, But Those Aren’t Self-Driving Cars

This is NOT Albert Einstein With His Therapist

Shutdownify is Fake

This City In China Built Its Own Chicago Bean In a Desolate Parking Lot

Vloggers Faked a Surveillance Video, But Did They Destroy hitchBOT?

9 More Viral Photos That Are Actually Fake

Chinese Police Shut Down a Huge Counterfeit iPhone Factory

Fake Doctor Arrested For Prescribing Bags of Dirt as Cancer Treatment

7 Gandhi Quotes That Are Totally Fake

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