Is That Really True or is it a Hoax? Eight Places to Find Out [1]
Can you believe everything you read on the Internet? Of course, Gizmo’s readers know that you cannot – not by a long shot. Many things you see are obviously a hoax or a scam. But sometimes it isn’t all that clear whether something is true or not. Fortunately, there are some websites devoted to keeping the facts straight. So, when you want to know whether something is just a con, an unfounded rumor, or made-up story, here are some places to go.
General hoaxes, myths, scams, and rumors
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Urban Legends [3] (Snopes)
This site has been researching “urban legends” since 1995 and is one of the best known of its type. All sorts of subjects, not just Internet material, can be found here. -
Hoax Busters [4]
A very large collection of Internet hoaxes can be found here. This is another site that has been around for quite a while. -
Hoax Slayer [5]
Site for checking out email hoaxes and scams. -
Federal Trade Commission scam alerts [6]
US government list of scams of all sorts. Not limited to the Internet. -
Stop Scams & Frauds [7]
A US government site with information about how to identify and report scams and frauds.
Virus hoaxes
A type of hoax that has caused trouble for many people involves fake reports about computer viruses. Many anti-malware software vendors have sites that report on these fakes. Here are several.
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Sophos Threat Center [8]
Email and virus hoax information. -
McAfee [9]
Compilation of virus hoaxes -
Symantec [10]
Compilation of virus hoaxes
And there you have it - next time a friend or relative has an email that says Bill Gates might give him some money, send him to one of these sites.
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