4 Absurd Hoaxes That Keep Going Viral On Facebook
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The claim
Circulating post claims that you will have to start paying to use Facebook unless you send the same post to your friends in order to confirm that you are an active user. Read Full Report
Messages circulating via Facebook, SMS and email claim that seven women have died after inhaling free perfume samples sent to them in the mail. Read Full Report
Message warns recipients not to accept a friend request from Christopher Davies or Jessica Davies because they are hackers who can gain access to your computer and the computers of your friends as well. Read Full Report
Warning message claims that an email with the title “Mail Server Report” contains a virus that will display a message saying “It is too late now, your life is no longer beautiful” before destroying everything on the infected computer. Read Full Report
What the fact-checkers found
Internet hoaxes come and go, often quite rapidly. Others keep reappearing over and over again. Endlessly. Here we list four hoaxes that keep coming back every few months or so. Despite thorough debunking, these silly hoaxes somehow manage to fool a great many Facebook users each and every time they reappear. Which may leave the rest of us face palming in frustration.
1: “Facebook Will Cost Money” Hoax Returns
The post is just a silly hoax. Facebook has not announced any plans to start charging users for access. In fact, the hopelessly garbled message is just a confusing amalgamation of several earlier hoaxes that falsely claimed that Facebook, WhatsApp, Hotmail, or other providers were set to start charging users who did not share a message. Any message that makes such a claim is certain to be a hoax and should not be shared or forwarded.
2: Deaths From Free Perfume Samples Hoax
The claims in these warning messages are untrue. The warning is a newer version of an old hoax that first began circulating back in 2001. There are no credible reports that support the claims in the message. Gleneagles Hospital has also denied any connection or involvement whatsoever with the warning message.
3: Christopher or Jessica Davies Hacker Hoax Warning
The claims in this supposed warning are untrue. It is just one more in a long line of similar “hacker” hoaxes that substitute alternative names for the “hackers”. Even the most skilled hacker cannot take control of your computer just because you accept a friend request. For a hacking attempt to be successful, some sort of file transfer or exchange of information must take place. Sending on this nonsensical warning will help nobody.
4: Mail Server Report Life is Beautiful Virus Hoax
The supposed warning is a hoax and it should not be taken seriously. The hoax has circulated since at least 2008. In fact, the “Mail Server Report” message is just a revamped version of the even older “Life is Beautiful” virus hoax, which has circulated since 2002.
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