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July 25, 2008 8:01:18 AM CDT

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Stories related to: hoax

Stories

14 Stories

  • July 2008

    • How a Forger Fooled Vermeer-Lovers

      newser  |  NPR  |  Jul 13, 08 12:23 PM CDT

      How a Forger Fooled Vermeer-Lovers

      Johannes Vermeer created only a few dozen paintings in his lifetime, while other major 17th-century artists cranked out 10 times that. That helped a mediocre Dutch painter  create convincing forgeries in the 20th century, NPR reports in a look at a new book on one of art's great hoaxes and its undoing.  More »

      Tags

      crime  • painting  • hoax  • artist  • forgery

  • June 2008

    • Sixth Foot to Wash Ashore Is a Hoax

      newser  |  Globe and Mail  |  Jun 19, 08 6:04 PM CDT

      Sixth Foot to Wash Ashore Is a Hoax

      The latest severed foot to wash ashore in Canada is a hoax, the Toronto Globe and Mail reports. The sneaker found this week near Vancouver actually contained an animal paw stuffed into a sock, authorities say. An official described the prank as “reprehensible and very disrespectful to the families of missing persons.” That leaves at five the number of feet that have washed up in the last year, fueling fears of a serial killer in British Columbia. More »

      Tags

      Canada  • missing person  • hoax  • severed feet  • British Columbia

    • Fake Airline Has Philly Giggling

      newser  |  Associated Press  |  Jun 6, 08 7:44 PM CDT

      Fake Airline Has Philly Giggling

      An ad for "Derrie-Air" airlines made Philadelphia readers the butt of a publicity joke today, the AP reports. The owner of two newspapers and an ad agency revealed that the airline—which claimed to charge passengers by weight, and be carbon-neutral—was cooked up to prove the power of advertising. And it's generating online buzz aplenty, a media company says. More »

      Tags

      airline  • newspaper  • Philadelphia  • weight  • hoax  • advertisements

  • May 2008

    • Regrown Finger Called 'Absurd'

      newser  |  Guardian (UK)  |  May 1, 08 7:36 PM CDT

      Regrown Finger Called 'Absurd'

      A UK plastic surgeon repudiated claims by an American company that a powder made from a pig’s bladder spurred regrowth of a man’s severed fingertip, the Guardian reports. Stories circulated this week of Lee Spievack’s “miraculous” recovery thanks to what he called “pixie dust,” but Simon Kay, professor of hand surgery at the University of Leeds, said the reports were “junk science.” More »

      Tags

      medical research  • plastic surgery  • hoax  • pigs

  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008

    • China: Sorry for This Fake Photo

      newser  |  Wall Street Journal  |  Feb 22, 08 5:12 PM CST

      China: Sorry for This Fake Photo

      China’s state-run news service has apologized for running—and honoring—a doctored photo that aided the government’s argument about a new train line's environmental impact. The 2006 image showed antelopes frolicking under Tibetan tracks, purportedly demonstrating that the beloved beasts weren’t affected by them. It worked, until sleuths noticed the telltale signs of Photoshop, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »

      Tags

      China  • Tibet  • Beijing  • hoax  • photo  • Photoshop  • Xinhua  • doctored photo

    • Boardroom Hoax Has Street Abuzz

      newser  |  Wall Street Journal  |  Feb 16, 08 7:47 AM CST

      Boardroom Hoax Has Street Abuzz

      Joe Herrick asks wonk-like questions about the impact of lean Six Sigma management techniques, is unfailingly polite and talks the talk of quarterly corporate conference earnings calls, fitting in nicely with the other securities analysts asking questions of the company’s head honchos. The problem is, reports the Wall Street Journal, Herrick is a hoax, and his mission is a mystery. More »

      Tags

      Pepsi  • hoax

  • December 2007

    • Princeton Student Faked Own Beating

      newser  |  The Daily Princetonian  |  Dec 18, 07 4:07 AM CST

      Princeton Student Faked Own Beating

      A Princeton student who claimed his views on morality and membership in a conservative organization triggered death threats against him and a beating has confessed that the threats and attack were self-delivered, the Daily Princetonian reports. Four others on campus, including a prominent conservative professor, were also threatened as part of the hoax. The 23-year-old junior admitted the ruse when police confronted him with inconsistencies in his story. More »

      Tags

      crime  • hoax  • Princeton University  • universities

  • November 2007

    • Sham Study Tricks Climate Skeptics

      newser  |  New York Times  |  Nov 12, 07 7:45 PM CST

      Sham Study Tricks Climate Skeptics

      Turns out undersea bacteria don’t cause global warming after all. But they were on trial for 70 minutes last week after a British prof's email chain linked to a sham study. Climate skeptics and conservatives—Rush Limbaugh included—trumpeted the study until a University of Colorado prof smelled something rotten. “Call me a skeptic skeptic—I smell a hoax,” he posted. More »

      Tags

      climate change  • Rush Limbaugh  • carbon dioxide  • hoax  • skeptics

  • October 2007

    • Strip-search Costs McD's $6.1M

      newser  |  Courier-Journal (Louisville, Ky.)  |  Oct 6, 07 10:03 AM CDT

      Strip-search Costs McD's $6.1M

      A Kentucky jury has ordered McDonald's to pay $6.1 million to settle the case of an employee who was strip-searched in the fast-food restaurant as part of a hoax. Jurors gave Louise Ogborn, 18 at the time, hefty punitive damages because McDonald's didn't seem all that concerned about warning employees about a roving prankster, the Courier - Journal reported. More »

      Tags

      sexual abuse  • McDonald's  • telephone  • hoax

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