The Ten Most Popular Hoax-Slayer Stories of 2015

Here we take a little trip down memory lane and revisit some of the most popular stories published on Hoax-Slayer during 2015. In fact, quite a few of these continue to circulate even today:

Fake-News Report Claims NASA has Predicted 15 Days of Darkness in November 2015 According to a ‘news’ report currently circulating via social media, NASA has confirmed that Earth will experience 15 days of total darkness between November 15 and November 29, 2015.

Completely Pointless and Misleading ‘Facebook Privacy Notice’ Message circulating on Facebook advises users to publish a ‘Privacy Statement’ as a means of stopping the public use of material they post on the network. The latest ‘better safe than sorry’ version mentions Channel 13 News as a source.

Spurious Health Tip – Onion on Feet to Take Away Illness Circulating health tip claims that placing raw onion on your feet can take away illness by absorbing toxins from the body. The message claims that onion placed on the bottom of your feet can gain direct access to your internal organs via “meridians” in your body.

HOAX – ‘Dorval, Quebec Mayor Refuses to Remove Pork From School Canteens’ Circulating message claims that the mayor of Dorval, a city in Quebec Canada, refused to bow to Muslim demands to remove pork from local school canteen menus and explained his decision in a strident note sent to parents in the area.

NONSENSE – ‘All Americans Microchipped by 2017’ Report claims that a 2007 NBC News segment predicted that all Americans would be microchipped by the year 2017. The reports suggest that the implanted RFID microchips will be used by the US government to control its citizens.

No, Energy Drinks Do NOT Contain Bull Sperm Message circulating via social media claims that the ‘longhorn cattle company’ tested some of the top brands of energy drink and found that they contain bull sperm.

HOAX – ‘Facebook To Start Charging to Keep Your Posts Private’ Message circulating on Facebook claims that from tomorrow all of the information that users have published on Facebook will be made public unless they pay a fee of £5.99 or repost the same message.

Killer House Plant Warning Message claims that an indoor plant that is commonly kept in homes and offices is so poisonous that it can kill a child in less than a minute and an adult in 15 minutes.

Fake-News Story Claims AriZona Tea Contains Human Urine According to a circulating ‘news’ report, America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently investigated popular US beverage maker AriZona Tea and discovered that human urine is used as an active ingredient in the company’s products.

HOAX – ‘HIV & AIDS Infected Oranges Coming From Libya’ Circulating message warns that the immigration services of Algeria have recovered oranges from Libya that have been injected with ‘HIV & AIDS blood’.