hoaxes

Teenager 'Performed Examinations' While Posing as Physician's Assistant

Max Read · 09/03/11 12:11PM

Being a physician's assistant seems like a great job, doesn't it? Except for all that pesky "learning" and "certification" you have to go through. Bo-ring! Seventeen-year-old Matthew Scheidt figured out a better system: Just pretend to be a P.A. and people will believe you!

That Michele Bachmann 'Who Likes White People' Video Is Lying to You

Jim Newell · 08/29/11 03:36PM

Some rather strange footage of Michele Bachmann began circulating over the weekend in which she appears at first glance—and with the help of the uploader's captions!—to be asking the crowd, "Who likes white people?" Hot dog, what a racist that Michele Bachmann is! But the video, like 99% of the Internet, is a cruel hoax.

Obama Assassinated, According to Hacked Fox News Twitter

Max Read · 07/04/11 08:33AM

The Fox News Politics Twitter account was hacked early this morning, and a number of Tweets claiming that President Obama had been assassinated were sent out. Fox has acknowledged the hack, but apparently still can't access the account—as of this post, the Tweets still haven't been taken down.

Fake Syrian Lesbian Tried to Get Book Deal

Max Read · 06/22/11 06:25PM

Say what you will about Tom MacMaster, the married American grad student who pretended to be a kidnapped Syrian lesbian on the internet—at least he started his horrible fake blog to create (as he put it) "an important voice for issues that I feel strongly about." Well, that, and to cash in on a memoir written from the point of view of his alter ego, which he was shopping around in May.

Fake Teenager Pursued Weiner on Twitter

Max Read · 06/18/11 12:49PM

As if the tragic ballad of Anthony Weiner and Twitter couldn't get any weirder: Some unknown persons invented fake identities as high school girls on Twitter, and used those accounts in an effort to dig up dirt on Anthony Weiner—in the process fooling at least one journalist.

Lesbian Editor Who Published Fake Lesbian Blogger Also Fake

Max Read · 06/13/11 06:19PM

In the wake of yesterday's revelation that Syrian lesbian blogger Amina Arraf was actually married American grad student Tom MacMaster, another lesbian blogger—the editor who first gave "Arraf" her platform—admitted to being a married man in Ohio.

The Mystery of the Gay Girl in Damascus

Adrian Chen · 06/08/11 02:20PM

When a post appeared on blogger Amina Arraf's blog claiming she'd been kidnapped by armed gunmen, media around the world quickly picked up the dramatic story. But now questions are being raised about Arraf's identity. Does she even exist?

Psychic Leads Police, Media on Very Confusing Quest for Mass Grave

Max Read · 06/07/11 08:04PM

Around 6:30 p.m. ET on Tuesday evening, CNN, Reuters and The New York Times, among others, seized on the juicy news that a "mass grave" of at least 20 "dismembered bodies" had been discovered in rural Texas. Only, the cops hadn't found any bodies, membered or dismembered — just a house with some blood on the porch. Also: They were acting on a tip from a psychic.

Jennifer Lopez, American Idol, and the Mystery of the Disappearing Ass Brace

John Cook · 05/06/11 01:15PM

We all know reality television shows, including and especially American Idol, are basically serial hoaxes. But couldn't they try a little harder to maintain the illusion? Idol producers went to elaborate lengths last night to falsely present Jennifer Lopez's on-air performance as "live," but they left behind a few editing artifacts proving that it was taped.

The One Place You Can Still Be Anyone on the Internet

Adrian Chen · 04/25/11 05:49PM

Anonymity is dying online, hemmed in by online ID schemes and Facebook's colonization of the net. But there's one place you can still pretend to be basically anyone: the "Ask Me Anything" section of the popular message board Reddit.

Bigfoot Hoaxers Not Even Trying Anymore

Adrian Chen · 03/24/11 11:16AM

Hey look! It's Bigfoot! No it's not. It's obviously some dude in a gorilla suit. But, nice try, Thomas Bryers of North Carolina.

Won't You Help James O'Keefe Pay off His 'Major Credit Card Debt'?

Jim Newell · 03/23/11 10:57AM

Conservative prankster James O'Keefe, the artless cad behind heavily edited video "stings" on NPR, ACORN, and other enemies of the state, has been paying for all of his work on his and his buddies' credit cards. Apparently it costs a lot of money to carry a camera and act like a jackass — $50,000, as it happens! So won't you be a peach and give him $50,000, or perhaps even $1 million? This is James O'Keefe's plea in an email to supporters.