Fake News

Amazon has announced a new initiative to eradicate fake products and counterfeit sellers from its site. The retailer will introduce new policies that will make it harder for traders to sell fake goods on the site. It is also revising its reviews system.

Huawei uses $4,500 professional camera to fake a smartphone photo

Chinese smartphone brand Huawei has been caught up in an embarrassing social media incident that has eroded trust in its brand. It implied that a photo uploaded to its Google+ account was shot on its P9 smartphone. It was actually taken on a $4,500 DSLR.

Google goes to war against fake download buttons

A common trick used by advertisers and scammers is to design fake software download buttons to display alongside websites with legitimate links. Google has announced it will start to protect users against these deceptive buttons with a Chrome update.

French teacher who invented IS attack to have psychiatric tests

By AFP

Paris - A French nursery school teacher who invented a story that he had been stabbed by a man shouting about the Islamic State group has been taken to hospital for psychiatric tests, the prosecutor's office said Tuesday.

French teacher who claimed IS attack 'admits inventing story': prosecutor

By AFP

Paris - A French nursery school teacher who claimed on Monday he was stabbed in his classroom by an Islamic State supporter has admitted to prosecutors that he invented the story.

$37 iPhone 6S clone already rolling off Chinese production lines

The iPhone 6S is one of the most popular smartphones on the market, particularly in China. However, many consumers are put off by the high price, creating a raging market for cheap knock-off devices including a $37 Android-powered clone on sale now.

Amazon announces lawsuit against over 1,000 fake reviewers

Online retailer Amazon has filed a lawsuit targeting over 1,000 people alleged to have posted fake product reviews on its website. The company says that the false reviewers can '"significantly" undermine the trust that consumers place in its listings.

25 fake Apple stores in one China town ahead of iPhone 6S launch

A lack of official Apple stores in China has led to a massive influx of fake look-a-likes selling Apple-branded products. Business is booming ahead of tomorrow's iPhone 6S launch, according to a report, although some are already being forced back out.

Germany orders Facebook to allow fake user names

Hamburg - A privacy watchdog in Germany ordered Facebook to allow users to join the site using pseudonyms. The order challenges Facebook's authentic name policy.

Fake doctor busted for prescribing dirt as cancer treatment

Vincent Gammill, a 69-year-old fake doctor, was arrested in California for allegedly prescribing bags of dirt as cancer treatment.

Joke app destroys App Store charts, nobody knows how

A fake app that allows you to supposedly see which of your parents you look most like has somehow managed to rise to the top of Apple's charts despite producing completely random results and having hundreds of one-star reviews.

Fake security question answers are weakening online security

Security researchers from Google have found that people frequently lie to personal security questions on new accounts online in the misguided belief that a fake answer will add increased security. The researchers found that the contrary is actually true.

Samsung paid 500 people to pose as fans at China Galaxy S6 launch

Samsung is alleged to have paid 500 people to pose as fake fans at the Chinese launch of its Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge Android flagship smartphones on Friday. This means that over half the attending crowd of 1,000 were paid to be there.

Fake orgy plot helps 28 inmates escape from Brazil jail

28 inmates at a prison in Brazil escaped after three women in dominatrix costumes tricked guards into thinking they were going to have an orgy.

Woman who faked having cancer sentenced for defrauding donors

Colchester - Danielle Watson, 24, was given a suspended jail sentence after she raised around $15,000 from claiming she had cervical cancer, when she actually didn't.

15 people sent to the hospital after smoking poisonous fake weed

Synthetic marijuana is readily available in bodegas and head shops in New York, even though it was banned two years ago, and New Yorkers are increasingly getting sick from smoking it.

Austrian newspaper in scandal over Photoshopped image

Österreich, a tabloid newspaper in Austria, was caught by one of its competitors over what they dub a "nasty piece of photojournalism." It seems they Photoshopped an image of two politicians in a breakfast meeting, which never actually happened.

Fake drug officials active in India

By Tim Sandle

The Indian government has warned both Indian and foreign pharmaceutical companies to beware of a scam involving people posing as U.S. FDA officials. The officials have been demanding cash payments for approvals.

Lab detectives help expose art fakes

By AFP

Paris - In under two weeks, the art world has been rocked by cases of forgery in which paintings with a potential value of millions were unmasked as worthless fakes.The two episodes, entailing a bogus Marc Chagall and a Ferdinand Leger, have shed light on the ...

Hunt is on for fake sign language interpreter at Mandela memorial

Pretoria - As the world watched the mass memorial service for the late Nelson Mandela, former South African President, a man stood there, gesticulating "sign language" for hours, but his movements meant nothing.

Passengers ejected from Air Canada flight due to fake tickets

Air Canada is investigating how five people boarded an Air Canada flight with fake tickets on Friday. The flight was bound for Toronto.

Madrid man arrested for phantom airline scam defrauding 67 people

Madrid - A Madrid man has been arrested by Spanish police after setting up a fake airline and cheating 67 "passengers" out of a total of €50,000, booking them on a flight to Paraguay that didn't exist.

Game of Thrones: Judge sends self-styled King of Germany to jail

Neustadt - 48-year-old Peter Fitzek, who claims to rule a nine-hectare kingdom in Germany, has been sent to jail. He got into trouble for using a fake driving license issued by his imaginary kingdom, "New Germany."

Japanese man arrested for making 28,000 prank emergency calls

Tokyo - In what could possibly have been the height of sheer boredom, or maybe a touch of paranoia, a Tokyo man has been arrested for making 28,000 prank calls to the local emergency number 110.

Spanish police catch up with gang making Ferrari knock-offs

Valencia - If you've been to the beach in southern Spain, you have been offered fake "brand-name" handbags, watches etc. by the Senegalese "lookie-lookie" men. Now it seems things got a tad more serious as other criminals managed to produce fake Ferraris for sale.

Teenage prank goes horribly wrong in 'kidnapping' scare