Spot a Fake!!!
Masum A H M, Head of National Operations at Garda Shield : Internet – The “Information Superhighway” is also a major source of misinformation. Twisted people with their vested interests often cooks up news and fake information to misguide netizens. I know, now a day’s people are smart enough to trust whatever they read in the net but sometimes the news is bent such a way it’s difficult to distinguish. Often, we get emotional and it’s easier to press the “Share” button than doing the due diligence. For some of us, we don’t even understand who to trust or what to believe. Honestly, if it seems too good to be true, then it often is; and should be treated carefully. Here I will try to outline some ways to spot a fake:
Google knows it all- I know I am stating the obvious. When in doubt just Google the info and see what are the links Google is displaying. If it’s an obvious fake; likely you will see it right on the first page that someone has already exposed it.
Google is your friend- If you are in doubt and get multiple contradictory links for a news then help google a little to show what you are looking for. Add the words “Fake” or “Scam” or “Truth about” with the search terms. If it’s really a fake you will get the link with details of the fakes. If it is not you won’t get any definite link. That does not mean you should believe it outright. It means you need to dig a little deeper.
Let’s Dig a Little Deeper- Pictures worth a million words. Often actual news is accompanied with related images. So, do the fakes. It is easier to type whatever someone want but not easier to make a photo to support the hoax. Fake news normally published with photos with other incidents with little or no alteration. Google image search ( https://images.google.com ) has a nifty way to “search by image” this allow you to upload an image and see what are the links associated with that image. A fake news will have different description for the image it comes with.
Have I seen it Before- Truth is stranger than fiction. It is difficult to come up with new ideas for creating fakes. The scammers often try to re-sale a previously successful fake with new time and date. If a recent incident seems to be appeared before in an earlier date, likely to be fake or shared with ill intention other than just sharing facts.
Ask the Experts- I referred Google a lot so far but it’s not the only expert around for detecting fakes. It turns out there are other dedicated sites which do in details research to find and expose the fakes. You can check those sites to find out if they have already written anything about the news you are about to spread with your peers. There are lots of sites offer such insight, for example: snopes.com, Urbanlegends, Sophos, breakthechain.org, truthorfiction.com and lots more.
Who is Talking- You should always check your source. From where you have got this news? All the news media are competing flesh and bone to stay ahead. If anything happens that is newsworthy it is bound to appear in many reputed news media. Even videos can be edited or digitally altered and can be posted out of context. Unless you see any reputed news media is not reporting it – hold your horse and take a closer look to who is reporting it. What other news that channel has shared? Who owns the channel? Don’t just jump on the rumor wagon. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
Trust your Instinct- Finally, trust yourself. You are an intelligent and educated person. Your brain has been trained to acquire and process information and it has its own perception of reality. If something fishy is going on your sub-conscious will give you the very “gut feeling” of mistrust. Unless you are a reporter and your life depend on it, don’t just share a cock and bull story just because you read it somewhere. You might think you have nothing to lose here and why do you care? In this era of social media your post goes everywhere and most of the time you are judged by your peers based on your postings. With each fake post you lose your credibility and trust. This might not outright visible but will have impact in the long run.