Business

Will T-Mobile start fining individual customers in 2024 for sending texts or posting content the company doesn't agree with? No, that's not true: The claim on social media misrepresented the nature of the change that will only affect the third-party vendors sending out automated messages. T-Mobile told Lead Stories that the company doesn't "censor" personal texts. The story appeared in…

Was an unidentified young woman robbed, stabbed, and left for dead by the side of the road, and will sharing a post on social media help to identify her? No, that's not true: This post is a fabrication designed to trick people to share the post within their local community. The photo, which appeared in several news articles, actually shows…

Did actor Kevin Spacey or writer Stephen King say that they would leave the United States if the "Epstein Client List" is made public? No, that's not true: Lead Stories found no evidence that King or Spacey made such comments. The claim came from a fake Donald Trump account on X. Contrary to the post, a federal judge in a…

Did Dr. Ben Carson, retired neurosurgeon and former Department of Housing and Urban Development secretary, endorse blood vessel-cleaning gummies? No, that's not true: A spokesperson for Carson said that the claim is "completely fake." Additionally, a digital forensics and deepfakes website that analyzes audio and other media concluded that a recording purporting to show him saying that was not authentic.…

Did actor John Travolta promote a hair growth product called RenewHair-X in a video on social media? No, that's not true: An audio track of a voice sounding like Travolta's is dubbed over a clip of the actor from a late-night talk show appearance. The audio purportedly spoken by Travolta repeats word-for-word audio purporting to be actor Kevin Costner in…

Did "Mr. Luke Jones," purportedly a man with dementia, drive away from his home and fail to return, triggering the activation of a silver alert? No, that's not true: No elderly man named Luke Jones is missing at the time of writing. This story is a part of a scam formula that begins with a ruse to entice people to…

Did a bystander or cohort film a spontaneous incident when a Muslim immigrant urinated on packages of pork in a Dutch supermarket? No, that's not true: The video is staged and was posted by a TikTok creator. The same creator posted several prank videos showing a man, wearing the same clothing, pretending to urinate in inappropriate places. The video was…

Did Fox News Channel host Laura Ingraham report that Dr. Mehmet Oz was sued by "Big Pharma" over a "revolutionary diabetes curing drug"? No, that's not true: A Fox News spokesperson told Lead Stories that Ingraham didn't say that on her show. Additionally, a digital forensics and deepfakes expert told Lead Stories that a recording purporting to show her saying…

Did Dr. Mehmet Oz promote a "cure" for prostate disease that does not require surgery? No, that's not true: A representative for Oz told Lead Stories, "This is a fake post fraudulently using Dr. Oz's name and likeness." A link that accompanied a post making the claim on Facebook redirected users to a bogus website posing as NBC News. Also,…

Did Donald Trump endorse a "$6,400 bonus" scheme before Christmas 2023? No, that's not true: Lead Stories could not find any evidence that the former president ever made any of the comments in a video making the claim, and it appears to be an AI-generated voice making the statements. There is no such federal program at the time of writing.…

Did Amazon convert its delivery fleet back to diesel "as electric doesn't work"? No, that's not true: A public relations manager from Amazon told Lead Stories on December 18, 2023, that this claim is false. An Amazon article from October 2023 said that the company plans to put even more electric vehicles on the road, in addition to the electric…

Is Elon Musk associated with a device that claims to cut "your heating bill to basically $0"? No, that's not true: There's no evidence the SpaceX founder has any connection to the heating unit being peddled on the internet. A picture of Musk holding the device in an online article about the product appears to be created using photo editing.…

Is it possible for recipients of Angel Tree, a Salvation Army program that allows a donor to buy the items on the Christmas list of a child or a senior adult, to return their gifts to any Walmart location in exchange for a Walmart gift card? No, that's not true: The Salvation Army told Lead Stories that Angel Tree distributions…

Is a video on social media that shows clothing thrown from above, falling into heaps on a Times Square sidewalk, part of a protest against the clothing store Zara because of an ad that was "disrespectful of the Gaza conflict"? No, that's not true: The CGI video is aiming to raise awareness of the environmental impact of the fast fashion…

Does a video of a hot dog slice under a microscope prove that hot dogs have parasites in them? No, that's not true: A food science expert told Lead Stories that this video was "completely made-up." The U.S. Department of Agriculture told Lead Stories that hot dogs are ready-to-eat products that are "extremely unlikely" to be able to house parasites.…

Did Sylvester Stallone say he won't work with Tom Hanks because "he weirds me out"? No, that's not true: This claim comes from a satirical website that has a history of fabricating content surrounding popular topics. The site carries a disclaimer that states, "Everything on this website is fiction." Lead Stories found no credible reports about what would be a…

Were Amazon user accounts hacked when Amazon Hub lockers were added as a default delivery address? No, that's partly false: Amazon users did have their default delivery addresses changed to Hub lockers but Amazon said that was an error caused by the company and not a hack. There is no evidence that the change was the result of a hack.…

Does a video document an Elon Musk offer to give free gold bars to the first 10,000 people who respond to his offer? No, that's not true: The audio track of this video has been replaced with audio of a fake voice that resembles Elon Musk's. The video of Musk was taken from a remote video call to the stage…

Did conservative TV personality Candace Owens turn down an offer to be a host on "The View" television show while being quoted saying, "I'm not saving their dying show"? No, that's not true: This claim originated from an article on a satirical website known for publishing fabricated content. The website has a disclaimer that reads, "Everything on this website is…

Did the Food and Drug Administration say all cancer treatments "actually cause cancer"? No, that's not true: The agency issued a press release announcing that it is investigating only cases related to one specific type of drugs -- CAR-T therapies. Medical professionals who discussed the press release with credible media organizations said the chances of developing a second cancer as…