Costco

Is there an image of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) stage at the White House, featuring a real banner that reads, in part, "Welcome to Costco"? No, that's not true: Although the UFC stage is real, the image contains an AI-generated banner. The fake banner is a reference to a satirical comedy film. The claim appeared in a post published…

Does a video of a grocery meat counter prove the price of rib eye boneless beef has risen to $59.99 a pound in August 2025? No, that's not true: The video shows a package of A5 Wagyu, which is the highest grade of Japanese beef and is subject to a 25.6% U.S. tariff. American-grown rib roasts were priced between $18…

Did court documents reveal that thousands of baby oil bottles seized from Sean "Diddy" Combs' home were laced with the date rape drug GHB? No, that's not true: Lead Stories could find no court document that confirms this. The federal indictment against Combs for alleged sex crimes did not state that the baby oil bottles taken from his residence contained…

Is retail chain Costco refusing to accept returns on toilet paper, paper towels, sanitizing wipes and other items amid the "chaos" caused by Hurricane Milton? No, that's not true: A sign stating that Costco will not give customers a refund on these items already appeared in social media posts in 2020, when people were hoarding supplies at the outset of…

Does a video show President Joe Biden browsing and selecting books in a store's section called "Brain Exercises for Dementia"? No, that's not true: The video was altered to add a sign with those words on it. Biden was actually picking up children's books in 2012. The claim appeared in a post (archived here) on Instagram on July 16, 2023.…

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 Walmart sell eggs for "illegal prices" and are $500 store credits being given to customers to "make it up"? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Walmart sold eggs at illegally high prices nor is there any evidence of consumers being able to get $500 in store credit from the world's largest retailer as compensation. The claim…

Is Walmart giving $500 to shoppers because the retailer sold "contaminated" water last year? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Walmart has sold contaminated water or that they're compensating their customers. Walmart's corporate website does not mention anything of the sort. The claim appeared on Facebook (archived here) on February 1, 2023. The post has a photo…

Did a court rule that all female victims of gender discrimination by Costco can receive a $500 grocery credit from the membership warehouse club? No, that's not true: There is no evidence that Costco is giving out $500 credits to anyone. Costco's fraud prevention page also discourages shoppers from clicking on ads that request survey participation, as they may thereby…

Did a digital display screen at a Costco Wholesale gas pump display a message that said, "Don't blame us. Blame Joe Biden"? No, that's not true: This image has been edited. The digitally altered image began appearing on Facebook on about May 27, 2022. One example was published with a caption: Forget Stickers. Costco just went digital. The text of…