1. Hoax Quiz: Spot the Fakes!
Put your hoax-spotting abilities to the test by taking our popular image quiz. It's harder than you think to separate the real from the fake! Status: Take the quiz!
2. Hercules, World's Biggest Dog (Photo)
Emailed image of a gargantuan dog named Hercules, purportedly the Guinness Record holder for World's Biggest Dog. Status: Fake
3. Carmen Winstead Was Pushed Down a Sewer
Chain-letter-style Internet postings tell the story of Carmen Winstead, a 17-year-old girl supposedly pushed down a sewer and killed by a gang of girls from her school. Status: False
4. The Legend of Bloody Mary
Urban legend says if you stand in front of a mirror and chant "Bloody Mary" three times, a terrifying ghost will appear. Status: False
5. Jamie Lee Curtis Is a Hermaphrodite
Longstanding rumors say actress Jamie Lee Curtis was born with male sex organs and underwent a sex change operation as an infant. Status: Dubious
6. The Tourist Guy of 9/11
A snapshot purportedly taken atop one of the World Trade Center twin towers seconds before the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. Status: Fake
7. Amazing Tsunami Picture
Emailed image purports to show the devastating tsunami of December 26, 2004 washing ashore on the Thai island of Phuket (or Indonesia, depending on version). Status: Fake
8. The Clown Statue
A babysitter calls the parents who hired her to ask if she can cover up the clown statue in the room where she's watching TV because it disturbs her. The parents tell her to call 911, grab the children, and get out of the house immediately! Status: False
9. Mr. Rogers Was a Marine Sniper / Navy SEAL
Internet rumors allege that mild-mannered children's TV show host Fred Rogers had a former secret career as a trained assassin. Status: False
10. Richard Gere and the Gerbil
Several years ago, "they" say, Richard Gere was admitted into the emergency room of a Los Angeles hospital with a foreign object lodged in his rectum: a gerbil. Status: False
11. Einstein Proves God Exists
In this viral anecdote of unknown origin, a university student named Albert Einstein humiliates his atheist professor by proving that God exists. Status: False
12. The Babysitter and the Man Upstairs
A babysitter receives multiple prank calls from a creepy man who keeps asking if she's checked to make sure the children are okay. Status: False
13. Humans Can Lick, Too
Home alone, but there's nothing to fear with your trusty dog keeping watch under the bed. Or is there? Status: Urban legend
14. Cell Phone Numbers 'Going Public'
Forwarded email warns that a directory of cell phone numbers will soon be published and urges users to enter their cell phone numbers on the federal Do Not Call Registry to prevent calls from telemarketers. Status: Mostly false
15. Burundanga Drug Warning
Forwarded emails warn of criminals using business cards or pieces of paper impregnated with a potent street drug called burundanga (aka scopolamine) to incapacitate victims before attacking them. Status: False
16. Lady Gaga Is a Hermaphrodite
An online concert video appears to show a little "something extra" peeking out from under Lady Gaga's miniskirt. Status: False
17. Do They Eat Babies in China?
Viral images purport to show people cooking and eating human fetuses and/or infants in China. Status: See details
18. Origin of the F-Word
In which we are asked to believe that the word "fuck" originated as the acronym of "Fornication Under Consent of the King," "Fornication Under Command of the King," "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge," or some other variation thereof. Status: False
19. Use Reverse PIN to Alert Police in ATM Emergency?
Email rumor claims ATM users can quickly contact police in the event of an attempted robbery by entering their PIN in reverse. Status: False
20. H.R. 4646: Obama's 1% Transaction Tax
Email claims President Obama's finance team plans to impose a 1% transaction tax on all transactions at financial institutions, including bank deposits. Status: Mostly false
21. Aren't You Glad You Didn't Turn on the Light?
Unnerving tale about a murderous madman lurking undetected in a dimly lit dormitory room. Status: False
22. The Fatal Hairdo
A teenager refuses to wash her hair because she doesn't want to muss her "do," and ends up with a spider's nest on her head. Status: False
23. Shark Attacks Helicopter
Viral image purports to show a great white shark lunging out of the water to attack a scuba diver dangling from a helicopter ladder. Status: Fake
24. Bill Gates' 11 Rules of Life
Circulating via email, the text of a speech allegedly given by Bill Gates in which he sets out 11 rules for life that kids won't learn in school. Status: Misattributed
25. Obama's Air Force One
Online postings claim President Obama replaced the American flag on the tail of Air Force One with his own campaign logo and slogan at a cost to taxpayers of $500,000. Status: False
Newly Added / Updated:
1. Lowe's Selling American Flag Doormats
Viral text expressing outrage on behalf of U.S. veterans claims Lowe's home improvement stores are selling American flag doormats. Status: True
2. Super-Skinny Fashion Models
Viral images purport to show grotesquely thin fashion models in runway shows and posing for photographs. Status: Fake
3. The Difference Between Obama and Romney
Paired images contrast President Obama, depicted as a "man of the people" fist-bumping a janitor, with Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a "man of wealth and privilege" receiving a shoeshine on an airport tarmac. Status: Misconstrued
