Business

Did Scotiabank, one of the largest banking corporations in Canada, announce in an online article and on a store sign that it is currently closed so that it can convert "all banking accounts to digital bank accounts" by April 1, 2023? No, that's not true: A Scotiabank spokesperson told Lead Stories these claims are false. A reverse image search reveals…

Did a virus that turns its host into a zombie get released in China? No, that's not true: This video shows an event put on by the Jakarta Light Rail Transit and an event organizer in Indonesia. Multiple videos on social media also prove that this was organized entertainment. The claim appeared on Instagram on March 26, 2023. The video…

Do Pfizer documents show that the company's COVID-19 vaccines contain graphene oxide? No, that's not true: The section of the document in question describes a procedure for analyzing a protein sample from the virus under a sophisticated microscope that includes the use of graphene oxide to help with imaging. Graphene oxide is not among the ingredients for the COVID shots.…

Were Corn Flakes, the cereal product that launched the Kellogg Company, invented to "kill the libido" of patients at a health resort? No, that's not true: Several versions of the Kellogg Company's website attribute the creation of the cereal to an accident. Although John Harvey Kellogg, who is often credited as the creator of the cereal, was known for his…

Did British publisher Robert Maxwell, who owned Macmillan/McGraw-Hill School Publishing Co. in a joint venture from 1989 until his death in 1991, put false information in American textbooks? No, that's not true: McGraw Hill told Lead Stories that Maxwell exerted no editorial control over the learning materials produced by the company. The claim appeared in a post and video on…

Can simply answering three or four questions and paying a nominal handling fee qualify people to redeem tickets, receive expensive products, $500 or even $1,000 gift cards, store credit or compensation from well-known brands? No, that's not true: In the first quarter of 2023, Lead Stories tracked a large-scale phishing operation on Facebook that manipulatively tricks people into divulging personal…

Did DirecTV, an American video programming distributor, say it "will drop ABC" if the TV channel continues to broadcast "The View," a talk show originally created by Barbara Walters and, of this writing, co-hosted by Whoopi Goldberg? No, that's not true: The story first appeared on a satire website. The claim originated in an article (archived here) published by the…

Is the fast-fashion clothing brand SHEIN offering $1,000 in store credit to Facebook users for simply answering four questions? No, that's not true: SHEIN is a real clothing brand but this is not their promotion. The empty promise of store credit is a ruse to get people to enter personal information on a malicious website under the guise of taking…

Is Feeding America running promotions on Facebook to give away $500 Walmart gift cards or food stamp vouchers to people who will answer four short questions? No, that's not true: Feeding America is a real charity but these promotions are not real. Spoofed pages are using the Feeding America name and logo. Real photos have been altered to bolster the…

Did Elon Musk invent a ground-breaking plug-in device that helps lower electric bills by lowering consumption instantly? No, that's not true: Electrical devices with identical plastic housings have been marketed online for years without mention of Elon Musk ,and there is no evidence this is his invention. Many reports have warned that these purported power-saving devices not only don't do…

Was the $209 billion Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failure in March 2023 the "first massive bank collapse this century"? No, that's not true: "Washington Mutual is still larger, but SVB was the largest since the Great Recession," Julianne Breitbeil, a senior media relations officer at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, told Lead Stories in a March 14, 2023, email. The…

Did Elon Musk endorse a remedy called shilajit? No, that's not true: This video clip of Musk speaking at the Ted2022 Conference has been dubbed with a sound-alike clone copy of Musk's voice to make it appear he was touting shilajit, when in fact he was speaking about purchasing Twitter and other topics at the conference. He did not discuss…

Was Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes indefinitely suspended by the NFL? No, that's not true: The claim in a social media post has a "Learn more" link that goes to a fake ESPN page promoting an "off-market supplement." The fake ESPN logo seen in the upper left-hand corner leads users to a website selling the supplement. No other legitimate…

Did tech entrepreneur Elon Musk "expose" the professional incompetency of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates in a series of tweets on March 2, 2023? No, that's not true: An archived version of Musk's Twitter account does not contain any entries about this. The story appeared in an article (archived here) published on Weveryday.com on March 3, 2023. It opened: Elon Musk…

Did Sarah Ferguson, the host of the Australian daily current affairs news program "7.30," pose several testy and loaded questions to Bill Gates when she interviewed him, resulting in Gates finally declaring, "OK that's enough. This interview is over. Thank you"? No, that's not true: It's a deepfake video circulating on social media. Ferguson did have Gates as a guest…

Did Elon Musk ban activist Greta Thunberg from Twitter? No, that's not true: Thunberg's Twitter account is still active. The claim appears in a publication with a disclaimer that its satirical articles are "not meant to be taken seriously" and "We make no claim that the information presented in these articles is true or accurate." The claim appeared in a…

Is Mickey Mouse "clearly massaging his massive erection" in a video described on social media as an "old @Disney reel"? No, that's not true: A former Disney animator called the short clip a "forgery." The NSFW video takes isolated character elements from the 1928 Disney cartoon "Steamboat Willie" and combines them with new animation to create something that looks like…

Were the victims of an Arkansas plane crash on their way to East Palestine, Ohio, to test the water, soil and air after a train carrying toxic chemicals derailed there? No, that's not true: The five victims, employees of CTEH -- an environmental consulting firm -- were headed to a metals plant in Bedford, Ohio, according to a CTEH spokesman.…

Was "vitamin" B17 prohibited for its "cancer-killing properties"? No, that's not true: The only thing it is known for is its ability to cause cyanide poisoning, not to treat cancer. Also, what social media refers to as a "vitamin" is not a vitamin. The claim appeared in a video published on Facebook on March 1, 2023. A male narrator began:…

Did a 2020 Australian study find dangerous levels of heavy metals in pink Himalayan salt? No, that's not true: Although the study found metal contaminants, all pink salt samples in the study -- with the exception of one, from Peru -- were within safe and allowable limits. The claim appeared in a Facebook post (archived here) on March 2, 2023.…