Tag Archives: Hoax

The buy one get one free – can’t believe your luck SUPER SALE!

I have to say the fact that is still doing rounds surprised (dismays) me and I’m not surprised by much these days!

I figured everyone must have heard the, “guy wakes up in ice bath”  kidney theft hoax by now surely? It’s been going since 1997 (as far as I cared to trace it back). Apparently not. This showed up on a friend of a friends Facebook page FOUR DAYS ago.

kidneys I wasn’t even going to bother mentioning it but then I read it and two things that made me smile;

The First Thing That Made Me Smile.

The author of the first post stresses that this is a TRUE STORY which is CONFIRMED by the simple fact that the phone number is real. Good-O. I’ve got one for you, check this out:

“BREAKING NEWS: Popular BBC television show,  Doctor Who was revealed today to not be a fiction at all  but in fact a documentary following the true life of  a Time Lord from Gallifrey. 

Please contact the BBC for more information on: 020 7765 1064. “

MUST BE TRUE – The phone number is real!

This started as an EMAIL hoax, it is that old! It’s done the rounds of hundreds of cities in many countries around the globe. This particular Australian version that has found it’s way onto Facebook  (complete with the same name AND phone number),  has been around since at least 2006.  I’m not sure how else to put it. IT IS TOTALLY UNTRUE.

oh and another thing ……

“The story is not medically plausible because a kidney from a random stranger would not be suitable to most transplant patients and a hotel room is not sufficiently sterile for such an operation to be viable. In April 2000 the National Kidney Foundation issued a public statement denouncing the report as an “urban myth run amok”.” joewein.de

But these hoaxes are not done there, oh no!

The Second Thing That Made Me Smile

If you were born with an intelligence even slightly above that of your average potato and spot the oldest hoax in the book there is a second “story” to get you thinking. It goes a little something like this ……….

Another story…..

I was approached yesterday afternoon around 3.30 pm in the Coles Parking lot at Noranda by two males, asking what kind of perfume I was wearing. Then they asked if I’d like to sample some fabulous scent they were willing to sell me at a very reasonable rate. I probably would have agreed had I not received an email some weeks go, warning of this scam. The men continued to stand between parked cars, I guess to wait for someone else to hit on. I stopped a lady going towards them, I pointed at them and told her about how I was sent an email at work about someone walking up to you at the malls, in parking lots, and asking you to sniff perfume that they are selling at a cheap price.

THIS IS NOT PERFUME – IT IS ETHER!

When you sniff it, you’ll pass out and they’ll take your wallet, your valuables, and heaven knows what else. If it were not for this email, I probably would have sniffed the ‘perfume’, but thanks to the generosity of an emailing friend, I was spared whatever might have happened to me, and wanted to do the same for you. These guys hit Sydney and Melbourne 2 weeks ago and now they are doing it in Perth and Queensland …

IF YOU ARE HUMAN AND RECEIVE THIS PLEASE PASS IT ON TO ALL THE WOMEN (EVERYONE) YOU KNOW!!!

I am human – I’m a smart human (smart enough to know that you meant “every one” and not “everyone”) but no I shall not be passing it on to ANYONE or indeed, any one of the women that I know.

Again, this has been around for donkeys years (anyone know the origin of that phrase?) in many different places. Hoax-Slayer has a pretty good list of occurrences but it ranges from ASDA and Tesco in the UK to New Zealand and a petrol station in Belfast.

So there you have it. A buy one get one free hoaxes that have, for a long old time, been denied but now are officially

DEBUNKED!

CGT

Message from Zuckerberg Re: Facebook Video ads

fb-adsI like this, it shows that the nasty pasties are getting cunning!

The message is supposed to be from Mark Zuckerberg “informing” Facebook users that Facebook is, “looking into  playing video ads as a way to increase the profitability of Facebook….”  BUT if enough people share the message they wont bring in the video ads AT ALL.

OH PUHHHLEASE.

Firstly – AS IF a corporation would  release such a negatively worded introduction for something that they are doing: “These ads will stop what you are doing every ten mintues….” Have you never seen a commercial? They go like this, (as I write this I was just gifted an example from some boofhead telemarketer!) “Great news! I’m calling from Energy Australia (CULPRITS!) you have been selected for a discount on your gas and electricity bill” Really? that’s funny, you don’t supply my house with either of those things? “You are eligible for a minimum 20% discount on your gas and electricity!” erm ….. we don’t have gas and you aren’t my provider how come I’m entitled to a discount. “Ahh you are eligible for a discount” CLICK Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Secondly – If all the reports are even close to the mark Facebook stand to make $4 Million dollars A DAY from these ads, you really think they’re going to give that up just because we don’t like the idea?

Anyway, on to why I like this so much ….. well because, as far as scams go, this is a good one. It has enough truth in it comes across as plausible and lots of people will get sucked in.

Facebook are indeed going to start video ads, as early as next month if we’re to believe the FT, but unlike “Zuck’s” post suggests Phillipa Warr from wired.co.uk  reckons that they will indeed autoplay but MUTED (only having sound if the user chooses) and only in the user’s newsfeed, just like current “suggested posts”. Seems to me then that these ads will be as easily ignored as video ads on certain newspaper Websites, and contrary to “Zuck” the ads will be short, as Evan LePage says, “the advertisements will reportedly be limited to 15 seconds. Facebook will also work to ensure that only one video per brand will show up in your newsfeed on any given day. ” On top of this Cotton Delo of adage.com contradicts “Zuck” on the frequency of the ads saying that the frequency will be, “….capped to ensure that no user sees more than three per day”.

Kudos to the scammers for this one. It could nearly be true. Unfortunately Facebook has, as yet, declined to offer comment on video ads or how much cash they’ll be rolling in when they start appearing.

Video ads ARE coming but nevertheless this message is ……

DEBUNKED :)

Thanks to Kim for passing this one on ;)

CG-T

PS Energy Australia – YOU SUCK!

ATTENTION girls AND ladies, are “gangs” getting smarter?

new-gangNope, and neither are some FB users.

This one was lovingly sent in from the pages of Kerry.

We’ve had empty baby seats left in the road, eggs and rocks thrown at car windscreens  and now crying little boys with nothing other than an address on a bit of paper.

Seriously?

Talk about far fetched! This warning doesn’t contain enough detail to be legit. It doesn’t even say what country these supposed “attacks” took place in, there are no details to speak of at all in fact. Combined with a dubious use of English; this one is a straightforward BA BOW!

Please apply some common sense before blindly re-posting these ridiculous warnings.

DEBUNKED

The “It’s only going to happen once every EIGHT HUNDRED years” scam

or as we like to call it – It’s going to happen another two times in the next ten years!

calendar

Yes we’re talking about the fact that this year (2013) March contains two Friday’s, two Saturdays and two Sundays (pretty cool indeed!)

BUT (yes, there’s always a but!) contrary to the message currently being passed around quicker than head lice at a kindergarten it is NOT the only time in our lifetime that we will see it. Unless, of course, you die before 2019, which is when it happens again (also in March) … aaaaaaand again in 2024.

We could post pictures of calendars to prove our point but it’s much more fun if you do it for yourself.

The message also suggest that by passing the message on you’ll be ensuring that a financial windfall will come you way (cue enormous eye roll). Quite frankly any message that claims that you’ll get money, sex, love, good luck, ANYTHING just by passing on a Facebook message does not deserve any more time than a passing pffffft! All you’ll guarantee is that some likewhore (a term that we did not coin but deeply love!) will get great figures for their seedy FB page.

Do not like, do not share, do not comment on these bogus posts. It’s the only way they’ll stop :)

DEBUNKED!

(Not even nearly) Back in Black …. or pink or red or ……….

ImageYou’ve more than likely seen this in one form or another sometime since 2012 when it seems to have started. This (image) is the latest in a loooooong line of “change the colour of your Facebook” scams. These are boloney! The links lead to survey scams that use your information to make you a perfect target for further spam campaigns or to Websites that install plugins to your computer without your permission (and trust me, these plugins are VERY hard to find and delete!

 

As always, use common sense and be careful what you click!

DEBUNKED!

Yet another “celebrity” death

Happily “celebrities” don’t die in real life nearly as often as they do on social media. Who’d go on all the crappy reality TV shows if there were no out of work “celebrities” (but that’s a rant for another blog and another day!)

This time it’s WWE sports entertainer and action movie “actor” John Cena. It was reported last week that Cena had died in a “single vehicle car crash” which is shockingly similar  EXACTLY the same as the Bieber hoax that

John-Cena-Dies-In-Car-Crash

whipped teeny boppers across the globe into a frenzy the previous week. In fact the image of the car on it’s roof is the same photo we saw in the Bieber story.

We reckon the hoaxers need to get a touch more imaginative. Why not, “Cena dies attempting body slam from eighth storey window.” Or something more interesting.

DEBUNKED!

….and STILL nothing comes for free :(

Remember last week with the bogus Apple page giving away iPhones that couldn’t be sold because they were “unsealed”, well a page has sprung up that, to us, looks veeeeeeeery familiar.

This time the “we’ve gone crazy and slashed all our prices to zero” warehouse claims to have 569 (Yupp! FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY NINE) ghd hair straighteners to give away. All you have to do is like the page and photograph for a chance to win (Remember this phrase!)

The official ghd FB page posted this warning, the page and the giveaway are completely bogus. All you’ll win is a nasty rash for your PC.

TIP: These scams are fairly easy to spot. The sheer number of items that they claim to be giving away is sheer lunacy! What kind of business can afford to give away FIVE HUNDRED of anything just because the boxes are open?

Any page that has offers such as this are more often than not hooked up to that old “dodgy brothers” survey scam that takes your time, information and gives you zip, zilch, nada in return.

Remember that phrase that we told you remember? (read up, we’ll all wait for you!) Pages that offer prizes for “likes” should be avoided or at the very least treated with great suspicion.

 

Water – it cures all known human ailments!

water-saves-lives

I’m not doubting that drinking water is good for you, but don’t you think that if you could avoid a heart attack simply by drinking 1 glass of water before going to bed we’d know all about it. Unless, of course, it’s a conspiracy by heart surgeons across the globe who would suddenly find themselves unemployed!

This first came to light in 2011 when Barbara Mikkelson from Snopes.com explained it so beautifully I’m just going to quote her verbatim!

“Beyond the nebulous suggestion that a glass of water “helps digestion” (how would that be measured?) or the fallacious claim that it “helps lower blood pressure” (it doesn’t) water does not “activate internal organs” in the morning. Our organs function quite well all on their own while we sleep, and they continue functioning after we wake up. As for the claim that downing a glass of water before bed “avoids stroke or heart attack,” were keeping ourselves safe from these dreaded killers that simple, the various stroke and heart disease foundations would be telling that very thing.” 14 November 2011.

Well said Barbara – DEBUNKED!

Facebook Email

facebook-emailI get very grumpy when I get scam emails – DO THEY NOT REALISE WHO THEY’RE DEALING WITH?!? so when this just plopped into my Junk Mail folder (not my inbox I’m happy to say – furthering my appreciation of my top notch Internet Security) I couldn’t let it pass. It’s not even a good fake and here’s why ……

Clue #1: The “from” email address; well done spammer, you named your bogus account “Support” but the email address is a random collection of letters. And the host, “power.hostabi.com” never heard of it (I found it eventually – more on that later)

Clue#2: Authentic emails from Facebook include your name in the subject line and the email itself. This one has the spammy looking “You have a new message from support” as the subject and no mention of my name in the email.

Clue#3: It’s wrong. My profile hasn’t been updated, either by me or anyone else (incidentally there are also spam emails like this that tell you that you have new notifications. Genuine Facebook emails assume that you have seen your profile in the last 20 seconds so are generally worded more like; “Here’s a notification you may have missed”)

Clue#4: Saving the best for last; When you hover your mouse over links (DON’T CLICK ANY LINKS IN THESE EMAILS!) your Web browser displays the address that the link will take you to (usually in the bottom left corner of the window). Genuine Facebook emails will obviously take you to some variation of “facebook.com.” What is certain to me is that “binhminhit.com/lawyers” (where all the links were going to send me) is NOT Facebook related.

powerhostIP

Clue#5: A quick search for the random power.hostabi.com on whatismyipaddress.com reveals that the IP address linked to the domain is located in TURKEY, not the Palo Alto CA address (Facebook HQ) it claims.

I urge EVERYONE to be on the look out for these clues in emails from Facebook and any other corporation (banks especially). It may be the case that they may only be links to survey or other rubbish sites but they could also hide trojan horses and other nasties.

If you do spot a fake – report it to Facebook or whichever company the emails are “from” and mark it as Spam/Phishing in your mail client.

Pay attention, use common sense!