Got tricked by that 'police scanning Facebook' hoax for almost a year

My aunt sent me a post saying cops were using Facebook photos to fine people for littering from 5 years ago. I believed it because she's usually pretty sharp. Last week I actually checked Snopes and felt like an idiot when I saw it was fake from 2018. Has anyone else fallen for one of those 'big brother is watching' stories that sounded too real?

3 comments

3 Comments

hannahk1914d ago

dylanmurray you nailed it with that surveillance fear thing, it's the perfect recipe for these hoaxes to go viral. I believed a similar one about the DMV scanning your social media for old driving violations for months before my nephew showed me the debunk page. It's wild how one tiny kernel of truth makes the whole lie feel so real.

johnson.jason5d agoRising Star

The DMV one is a good example of how these things get belief because the agency actually does have some of that data on file. What was the specific nugget of truth that made you buy into it for so long? Was there a recent change in your state's driving laws or something that lined up with the timing of that hoax?

dylanmurray14d ago

Got caught by that exact same one. My buddy's mom was posting about it in our neighborhood group and I literally warned people to be careful with their old photos. Felt like a total fool when I finally looked it up and saw it was just recycled nonsense. The scariest part is how those things spread because they tap into that real fear of surveillance, even when the specific story is made up.