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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HOAX – ‘NASA Confirms 6 Days of Total Darkness’
The claims in the report are fanciful nonsense. NASA certainly has not confirmed the supposed 6 days of darkness. No such event will occur. The story is perpetrated via various fake-news ‘satirical’ websites including The Racket Report and Huzlers.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Oct 27, 2014
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SATIRE – ‘Harper Changes Canadian Flag’
The report is fiction. Prime Minister Harper has not announced any changes to the flag. The story comes from the Canadian satire website The Lapine. The stories on the site are designed to poke fun at people, events, and trends.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Oct 24, 2014
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SURVEY SCAM – ‘See Who Watched Your Profile’
The post is a scam that attempts to trick you into spamming your friends and providing your personal information via dodgy online surveys. You will NOT get to see who watched your profile no matter how many surveys you complete.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Oct 13, 2014
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Salt Water Ebola Prevention Hoax Leads to Deaths
A social media hoax, which falsely claimed that drinking or bathing in salt water could prevent infection from the deadly Ebola virus, has reportedly led to at least two deaths.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Oct 9, 2014
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Hoax Claims Jenni Rivera Faked Own Death
The claims in the report are false. Sadly, Jenni Rivera did indeed die in a December 2012 plane crash. Despite circulating rumours, there are no credible reports that support claims that Rivera is alive.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Oct 8, 2014
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FAKE-NEWS: ‘Prehistoric Shark Captured off Pakistan’
The claims in the report are nonsense. No giant prehistoric shark has been caught off Pakistan, or anywhere else. The photograph depicts a very large but otherwise normal Great White Shark caught off the coast of South Africa in 2009.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Oct 3, 2014
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PHISHING – AOL Mail ‘Exceeded Storage Limit’ Email
The message is not from AOL Mail. It is a phishing scam designed to steal your AOL account login details. If you receive this message, do not follow any links or open any attachments that it contains.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Sep 29, 2014
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HOAX – ‘Facebook to Begin Charging Users From November 1st’
The claims in the message are untrue. Facebook has not announced any plans to start charging users a monthly fee for access to normal site services. The story comes via the ‘satirical’ fake-news website National Report.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Sep 22, 2014
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UNFOUNDED – ‘Kinder Joy Contains Wax Coating That Can Cause Cancer’
The claims in the warning are misleading and inaccurate. Many chocolate products do actually contain paraffin wax to give them a shiny finish and help them remain solid at room temperature. However, there is no evidence that this wax additive causes cancer.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Sep 15, 2014
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HOAX – ‘Belgium Mayor Explains Why he Refused to Ban Pork From School Canteens’
The claims in the message are untrue. It is a hoax that first began circulating in 2013. No such letter was ever sent to parents. And Mayor Marc Duvivier has stated that the municipality never received any demands or requests to ban pork from canteens and the…
Hoax-Slayer · English · Sep 12, 2014
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MALWARE – TNT Express ‘Could Not Make Delivery’ Email
The email is not from TNT. Clicking the link opens a compromised website that harbours malware. Similar malware emails claim to be from other well-known delivery companies, including FedEx, UPS, USPS, and DHL.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Sep 10, 2014
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Fake News – ‘Ruins of Ancient City Discovered in Australian Desert’
The claims in the message are nonsense. No such ruins have been found in Australia. The image actually depicts the 2000-year-old foundations of pyramids found at Sedeinga in northern Sudan.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Sep 8, 2014
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SCAM – ‘Facebook Work From Home Program’
The message is a scam. Facebook has not launched such a program and has no connection to the scheme. The link in the message takes you to a fake Facebook Page that tries to trick you into paying four dollars for a dodgy ‘Facebook Millionaire’ kit.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Aug 25, 2014
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MALWARE – ‘Baker & McKenzie’ Court Notice Email
The email is not from Baker & McKenzie and has no connection to the firm. Instead, it is an attempt by criminals to trick you into downloading and installing malware.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Aug 20, 2014
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PHISHING SCAM – Amazon 90% Discount Coupon Email
The email is not from Amazon and you have not won a 90% discount as claimed. Instead, the message is a phishing scam designed to steal your Amazon login details and other personal information.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Aug 13, 2014
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LIKE-FARMING – ‘Mercedes Benz CLA 45’ Facebook Giveaway
The Page is bogus and the competitions that it promotes are not legitimate. There are no winners and no cars are being given away. This is a like-farming scam designed to fraudulently increase the number of likes garnered by the Page.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Jul 21, 2014
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RESHIPPING SCAM – ‘Transportation Manager’ Parcel Repacking Job Offer
The email is a scam. The promised job is, in fact, a criminal ruse designed to trick you into receiving goods bought via fraudulent transactions and sending them back to your criminal ’employer’.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Jul 17, 2014
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PHISHING – ‘Security Alert Facebook Disabled’ Email
The message is not from Facebook and the claim that your Facebook account will be disabled if you do not confirm account details is a lie.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Jul 15, 2014
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NONSENSE: August 2014 Date Combination – ‘Once Every 823 Years’
It is perfectly true that August 2014 has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. However, this combination occurs far more often than once every 823 years and is not at all remarkable.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Jul 11, 2014
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Hoax – ‘Dangerous ‘New Known Spider’ Spreading In Australia’
Update In August 2018, another hoax warning about a new and supposedly deadly “spider from hell” began circulating via Facebook. The “spider from hell” message is not related to the older hoax I discuss below.
Hoax-Slayer · English · Jul 10, 2014
Entries are collected from public fact-checking sites and link back to the original article.