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NEWS ABOUT: Internet hoax

Taylor Lautner Gay Cover Fakes Out Net

People says 'exclusive' on actor coming out is just a hoax

(Newser) - A phony People magazine on which Taylor Lautner supposedly comes out of the closet is a fake, but it fooled plenty of people as it spread around the Internet, Gossip Cop reports. "Tired of rumors, the Twilight star opens up about his decision to finally come out,” reads... More »

Jon Bon Jovi: I'm Not Dead

Wanted alive: Rocker quashes death rumors

(Newser) - Jon Bon Jovi wants his fans to know that, contrary to rumors sweeping the Internet, he hasn't gone out in a blaze of glory. A news blog printed a fake report of the rocker's death which quickly spread across Facebook and Twitter, E! Online reports. When Bon Jovi... More »

Woman Pretends to Be 20 People in Cruel Online Hoax

Janna St. James now faces lawsuit

(Newser) - Paula Bonhomme met volunteer firefighter Jesse Jubilee James on an online message board in 2005. Emails and letters led to near-daily phone calls, and in 2006, Bonhomme left her unhappy marriage and planned to move to Colorado to be with James, even though they'd never met face to face.... More »

Hoaxer Convinces Dad His Daughter Died in Tsunami

But Alice Byron is safe, and had evacuated

(Newser) - Ashley Russell found the information on a missing persons website set up for victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami: His daughter, Alice Byron, was dead. But several hours later, the Australian man learned the truth: Byron was alive, and he had been the victim of an online hoax. The... More »

'Tree Octopus' Hoax Shows Kids Believe Anything Online

Students believe everything they read online, warns researcher

(Newser) - Today's students have a worrying habit of believing everything they read on the Internet, according to a researcher who found it easy to trick young people into believing that endangered "tree octopuses" live in the Pacific Northwest. Students directed to a phony website highlighting the creature's plight continued to... More »

Limbaugh Falls for Wikipedia Hoax

Even though, really, he should know better...

(Newser) - Even though Rush Limbaugh once said, "Everybody in the world knows you don't believe anything on Wikipedia," he managed to get himself fooled by, yep, a Wikipedia hoax. Limbaugh, speaking Tuesday about the judge who is presiding over a challenge to the president's health care reform, called him... More »

Bill Cosby: I'm Not Dead

Twitter tries and fails to take down another celebrity

(Newser) - Bill Cosby is not dead, despite what you might have read on the Internet this afternoon. In fact, the 73-year-old comedy legend is alive, well, and making up words on Twitter, reports WPIX . Using a term he created after a similar false alarm in February, he tweeted today, "Again,... More »

'Osama bin Laden' Kicked Off Facebook

Fake terrorist leader gave location as 'mountains of the world'

(Newser) - Facebook has shut down a month-old page purporting to be the online presence of Osama bin Laden. "There is no evidence to suggest that the account in question or the other dozens of people who have tried to present themselves as Osama Bin Laden have any relation to the... More »

Gizmodo, Drudge Fooled by Fake 'TSA Porn'

That's not an image from a body scanner, just a nude model

(Newser) - Gizmodo gets about “30,000 views in a single day” of a post with hot TSA full body scanner pics of an attractive female, Kashmir Hill writes, but it would be wise “to add a ‘this is a hoax’ update” since the photos are obviously fake.... More »

Scam Emails Capitalize on Swine Flu Scare

Phishing scheme asks targets to register for vaccination

(Newser) - Bogus email alert: Be on the lookout for messages allegedly from the CDC about a "mandatory" swine flu vaccination program. The emails ask recipients to enter personal information in order to get vaccinated, but unlucky registrants get malware instead of medicine. The CDC has confirmed that it is not... More »

No, Zach Braff Is Not Dead

Publicist denies Twitter-spread 'report' that actor had committed suicide

(Newser) - From the don’t-believe-everything-you-see-on-Twitter department: Actor Zach Braff is in fact not dead, despite a fast-spreading rumor to the contrary. “He’s alive. It’s just another hoax,” an ABC rep says tonight of the Scrubs star, 34. Earlier in the day, Twitter was humming over a link... More »

Yellowstone Quakes Spark Volcano Fears

(Newser) - The recent rash of earthquakes at Yellowstone National Park has geologists intrigued but unworried; that’s not the case with online doomsayers who think the park's volcano is getting ready to blow, the AP reports. About 900 quakes, most undetectable by humans, hit in the week following Christmas. “Something... More »

McCain 'Insider' Who Leaked Palin Dirt a Fake

Tale of would-be VP not knowing Africa's a continent fooled media

(Newser) - MSNBC thought it had a scoop: On Monday, it identified "Martin Eisenstadt, a McCain policy adviser" as the man who claimed Sarah Palin didn't know Africa was a continent. Only trouble? Martin Eisenstadt doesn't exist—he's a character in an elaborate, months-long hoax that has taken in news... More »

Subway's Jared: Alive, Thank You

Now-svelte sandwich pitchman is the victim of an Internet hoax

(Newser) - Reports of the demise of Subway pitchman Jared are greatly exaggerated, a company rep said yesterday in response to an Internet hoax spread via Twitter posts. "Jared sounded very much alive when I talked to him today," a spokesman told Radar. The fast-spreading rumor claimed Fogle, 30, died... More »

Woman Indicted in MySpace Suicide Case

Under fake persona, she teased girl who then killed herself

(Newser) - A Missouri woman has been indicted in the case of a teenage girl who killed herself after receiving cruel messages on MySpace, the AP reports. The woman, Lori Drew, is charged with pretending to be a teenage boy on the site and having a helper taunt the 13-year-old victim. Drew... More »

GoogleTV Heads List of Best New Internet Hoaxes

Glowing Mountain Dew, UFOs also make list

(Newser) - The Internet probably doesn’t need more false information, but some of the recent hoaxes have been so good that ComputerWorld had to recognize them. Here’s their list of best new tomfoolery:
  • GoogleTV made thousands log into GMail over and over and over.
  • Many thought the UFO Haiti video
... More »

Facebook Hoaxer Part of Plot to Smear Bilawal: Dad

Heir loves vampire slayer Buffy on fake site

(Newser) - Several news editors and internet surfers fell hook, line and sinker for a Facebook hoaxer pretending to be Benazir Bhutto's son and political heir—and an aide for his dad charged that it was part of a smear campaign by the Pakistani government. The fake Facebook site has 19-year-old Bilawal... More »

Anger Brews Over Cyber Suicide

Hoaxers who drove teen to kill herself untouched by law

(Newser) - Police fear a "mob mentality" is brewing in a St. Louis suburb after a 13-year-old girl killed herself, and the hoaxers who allegedly prodded her have gone free. Two adults—parents of the girl's friend—badgered Megan Meier online until she hanged herself in her closet last October. Cops... More »

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