Everyone, from the President of the United States, Donald Trump, to the roadside political henchman today knows about fake news. This is the news that does not exist but has been cooked up to influence and provoke people into action. Images, videos and texts are morphed and created to give...
Fake news can be very convincing and hard to debunk. And the prevalence of disinformation online makes it hard to know what’s genuine and what’s fake. While fake news is often harmless and sometimes fun, it can also be used by people to sway public opinion or even byhackersas a means...
The good news is that you can avoid being taken in by these ruses, not by examining the evidence closely, which is liable to mislead you, but by waiting until trusted sources verify what you’re looking at. This is often hard to do, however. Most people are ill-equipped to detect this...
Although lots of fake news appears believable at first, it’s also easy to debunk. If you follow a few of the methods described below regularly, it should become easy to distinguish real from fake news. Check the sender Verify the social media profile of a senderbefore you share a post. ...
Example of a fake text message claiming that you need to verify your account details. Source: Aura How to stay safe:Don’t take the bait. If a bank truly needs you to update your information, it will ask you to do so in person or via its secure online banking portal. ...
For example, Russia made claims that the U.S. had been secretly developingbiological weaponson Ukrainian territory. These claims have been widely refuted, and there is no actual evidence to support this, but the fact that this misinformation has been released raises some important questions, mainl...
Verify claims. Use fact checkers likeGoogle Fact Check Tools(Figure A). Figure A Use specialized tools to verify those facts Images and videos In the case of a picture or video, where was it taken? Is the photo an original one, or has it been used before?
Retail:Retailers face document fraud in the form of counterfeit receipts or warranty claims. An increase in either form of fraud affects stock levels, causing shrinkage that ultimately impacts a retailer’s bottom line. Government and Public Administration:Fake identity documents are often used to gai...
Since Business Insider told me the source of the data (the FBI Uniform Crime Report), I could go verify it for myself. Sure enough, the data on the FBI site matched the Business Insider map. I tell this story of two maps to emphasize that when people are discussing the truth or falsi...
The good news is that you can avoid being taken in by these ruses—not by examining the evidence closely, which is liable to mislead you, but by waiting until trusted sources verify what you're looking at. This is often hard to do, however. ...