The fact-check archive.
Thousands of dissected hoaxes in Indonesian and English: the claim, what the fact-checkers found, and the sources to verify it yourself.
1,773 fact-checks
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Viral Facebook Post Warns About Facebook Cloning – Warning is Valid
The tactic described is real. This tactic is known as “Facebook cloning”. All Facebook users should be aware of cloning and the security risks it poses. Note, however, that cloning cannot be accurately described as “hacking”.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Jan 19, 2016
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IRS ‘Information Records Recently Changed’ Phishing Scam Email
According to this email, which claims to be from America’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS), you are required to verify your billing information because your records have recently changed.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Jan 18, 2016
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John And Lisa Give Back Scams
In recent days, a number of websites have appeared that claim that Powerball winners John and Lisa Robinson are giving away a portion of their winnings to Internet users.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Jan 18, 2016
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‘Please Reply My Previous Email’ Scammer Ruse
Lately, I’ve been receiving brief emails that ask me to ‘please reply to my previous email’. The emails have the rather accusatory ALL CAPS subject line ‘WAITING’, which implies that the original message was perhaps something important that I should by now…
Hoax-Slayer · English · Jan 18, 2016
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‘Problem Calculating Your Return’ IRS Phishing Scam
According to this email, which purports to be from the IRS, there has been a problem calculating your tax return and with your filed Social Security Number (SSN).
Hoax-Slayer · English · Jan 8, 2016
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‘Invoice for Penalty Charge Notice’ Malware Email
This email purports to be an invoice related to a traffic offence penalty charge notice. According to the email, the sender has paid the fine on your behalf to prevent it from escalating further.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Jan 7, 2016
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‘Your Account Has Been Blacklisted’ Email Phishing Scam
According to this email, which claims to be from ‘Mail Services’, your email account has been blacklisted. The message advises you to click a button to remove the supposed blacklist and ‘renew’ your account.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Jan 4, 2016
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Killer Insect ‘SOS Alert’ Hoax Warning
The claims in the messages are nonsense. The holes shown on the hands in the photographs are not the result of a virus caught via touching an insect but rather just special effects created using makeup artist moulding putty.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Jan 4, 2016
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‘Win a Carnival Cruise’ Facebook Survey Scam
According to a post currently being distributed across Facebook, you can win tickets for a Carnival Cruise just by sharing the post and then clicking a link that supposedly opens a Carnival Cruise website where you can enter.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Jan 4, 2016
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‘St.George Website Changes’ Phishing Scam Email
This email, which purports to be from Australian bank St.George, supposedly notifies customers that the bank’s website is set to be redesigned in coming days.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Jan 1, 2016
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Kroger ‘40% Off Voucher’ Survey Scam
According to a post currently being distributed across Facebook, you can follow a link to receive a 40% off voucher from US retailer Kroger. The post features a clickable image of the supposed voucher and includes the Kroger logo.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Dec 18, 2015
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Hoax News Story Falsely Reports ISIS Attacks in Glasgow, Cheshire, and South Yorkshire
According to several hoax news reports that are currently being distributed via social media, an ISIS terrorist attack has killed more than 20 people in the UK and injured many others. These reports are untrue.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Dec 3, 2015
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PayPal ‘You Sent a Payment to Kogan’ Phishing Scam Email
According to this email, which appears to be from PayPal, you have sent a payment of $299 (or $199) to Australian online department store Kogan. The email features the PayPal logo and emulates a genuine PayPal transaction notification email.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Dec 1, 2015
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‘Win Disney Vacation and $5000’ Facebook Scam
According to a post currently being shared across Facebook, you can win a Disney World vacation for five people along with $5000 cash just by sharing, liking, commenting and then clicking a link to claim your entry.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Nov 30, 2015
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Phishing Scam – ‘Final E-mail Before Apple ID Suspended’
According to this email, which purports to be from Apple Support, your Apple ID and iCloud are set to be suspended because you did not complete a verification on time. Supposedly, the company sent a previous verification email but did not receive a response.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Nov 27, 2015
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Fake Terror Alert Emails Contain Malware
People have reported receiving ‘terror alert’ emails that claim to be from law enforcement agencies in several locations around the world, including Canada, Dubai, Bahrain, and Turkey.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Nov 24, 2015
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Standard Chartered ‘New Website Design’ Phishing Scam
According to this email, which purports to be from Standard Chartered Bank’s ‘Straight2Bank’ service, the design of the bank’s website is changing. The email advises that the look and feel of the site will change and that the site will have a new web address.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Nov 24, 2015
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Facebook Posts Asking You to Type ‘Amen’ To Help Children or Animals Are Like-Farming Scams Not Hackers
The hacking claim in the supposed warning is utter nonsense. Hackers cannot hijack your account just because you enter “amen” as a comment.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Nov 24, 2015
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No, Obama has NOT Declared December As National Muslim Appreciation Month
According to a report that is currently making its way around the interwebs at speed, US President Obama has declared December 2015 as ‘National Muslim Appreciation Month’.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Nov 17, 2015
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‘Proposal Letter on Google Drive’ Phishing Scam
According to this email, the sender tried to attach a proposal letter but received an error message stating that the attachment exceeded the 25MP attachment size limit. So, claims the email, the sender put the document on Google Drive instead.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Nov 17, 2015
Entries are collected from public fact-checking sites and link back to the original article.