Scam

Did a "Lucas Mamdani", brother to New York City's mayor, buy properties with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders to financially benefit from new city policies on affordable housing? No, that's not true: Lead Stories did not find evidence to support the existence of any sibling of Mayor Zohran Mamdani. The claim originated from a page with a satire label that was…

Did a federal Judge say the Treasury Department can take back $15 million of USAID money granted to companies owned by Sen. Adam Schiff? No, that's not true: This post originated from a website that produces satire content designed to fool conservatives. The post originally had a visible satire disclaimer but it has been reposted elsewhere with the disclaimer blurred…

Does Sweet Angel Child Care's phone number dial directly to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz's office? No, that's not true: The child care center's phone number as listed on the state licensing website and several other online directories does not connect to the governor's office. The number dialed in an online video making the claim was on a Google map listing,…

Did Rachel Maddow, tennis champion Coco Gauff and former British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, plus dozens of other prominent Americans, post identical brave notes from a hospital bed, saying "I still have a long road ahead. But I believe in recovery -- through love, through support, and through everyone's thoughts and prayers."? No, that's not true: The stories, with identical…

Did Barack Obama, Donald Trump or Marco Rubio "just cut the ribbon on a $150 million free education and health campus, entirely funded "by his own pocket", without a single tax dollar."? No, none of them did: The made-up stories are among dozens cranked out by Vietnam-based publishers building traffic on Facebook with stories attractive to fans of Obama, Trump…

New visa directives wrongly conflate journalism with censorship The International Fact-Checking Network is deeply concerned by reports that the U.S. State Department has instructed consular officers to deny visas to individuals who have worked in fact-checking, content moderation, and trust and safety. Fact-checking is journalism. It is the straightforward work of comparing public claims against the best available evidence and…

When I received an invitation last month to come to Macedonia to talk with the fact checkers and journalists at the Metamorphosis Foundation about Lead Stories' experience with our automatically generated short-form fact checking videos, I didn't hesitate for a moment. Ever since 2019 when I wrote about a network of Macedonian fake news websites operating out of the town…

Did Pete Buttigieg stand at the podium at a public town hall meeting with Joe Biden joining by live feed, and announce he's running for President in 2028? No, that's not true: At the time the rumor was posted, no news outlets had carried the story of such an announcement by the former Secretary of Transportation. There were no news…

Is a high-end Seattle store called "Matthew's Haberdashery" moving to Charlotte, North Carolina and selling Seattle-made men's clothes at a discount in a moving sale? No, that's not true: the store never existed, and the website and Facebook page appeared just 39 days before the moving sale was underway. Lead Stories easily found the exact photos from the Matthew's website…

Did Oprah Winfrey give $1 million to the Chicago mom who was attacked by a group of kids? No, that's not true: The mom who was brutally assaulted on video has not posted anything about Winfrey giving her $1 million on her social media account. Her official GoFundMe has only $28,000 as of publication date. There are no legitimate news…