Scam

Did prominent Americans like Elon Musk, Caitlin Clark, Stephen Colbert, and Joy Behar each pay down $667,000 of schoolkids' lunchroom debts? No, there's no evidence that's true: In the case of FBI Director Kash Patel, the gift was inflated to $979,000, which would be more than five times his FBI salary.The posts making the claims include no evidence by which…

This is what fact checkers call a "prebunk." A prebunk is like a debunk (another word for fact check), only it's an advance notice of an anticipated false claim. This article is intended to inoculate you from future outbreaks of a specific type of false claims about your favorite entertainment celebrities, sports stars, and politicians. We call this "Viet Spam"…

Did U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement "rebrand" itself to be publicly known as Homeland Security Investigators, not ICE? No, that's not true: ICE still exists under the same old name. "Homeland Security Investigators" discussed in social media posts is not a brand-new entity -- it has operated since 2010 as one of the major divisions within ICE, but the correct…

Did Metallica vocalist James Hetfield commit to pay for the education of Kirk's children, as multiple social media posts said? No, that's not true: There were no news reports or public statements backing up any of that. Hetfield has made no such announcement, nor have other celebrities whom social media engagement campaigns falsely claim are making the same "commitment." The…

Was a Secret Service agent standing with Donald Trump after he was shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024, also standing close to Charlie Kirk when he was fatally shot in Orem, Utah, on September 10, 2025? No, that's not true: The male Secret Service agent holding Trump's left arm as Trump raised his right fist in the air…

Does a viral selfie of a light-haired person in a dark skirt, taken with a pink cellphone, portray the owner of the @NajraGalvz account on X, which posted one day before the event that "something big" would happen during the Utah Valley University event at which Charlie Kirk was killed? No, that's not true: The photo was misattributed. The @NajraGalvz…

Did Alyssa Milano say she had "no idea" that she was supposed to report what she used her $1.2 million USAID grant for? No, that's not true: That story originated on a satirical Facebook page that clearly labels its content as fake. The owner of the page is known for tricking conservatives into liking and sharing made-up content. The self-described…

Did President Trump sign into law an income tax exemption for families making less than $120,000? No, that's not true: No such exemption has passed the U.S. House and Senate. There is no such exemption on the official list of laws signed by Trump. The claim appeared in a September 4, 2025 TikTok video (archived here) published by the AppalachianQueen5…

Does a post on Facebook really offer a "free meat bundle box"? No, that's not true: The post does not provide an actual location for those wanting a free meat bundle box. If people click the link promoted in the post, a series of web pages aim to trick social media users into sharing sensitive personal information. The links send…

Did Florida ban "The Diary of Anne Frank" from public library shelves? No, that's not true: A graphic version of Anne Frank's diary was removed from school library shelves in Escambia County, Florida, after a complaint that it minimized the Holocaust with the inclusion of Frank's description of her private thoughts about sex. A group that tracks book bans recently…