Business

Did CNN cut Benjamin Watson off in mid-sentence during an interview because the NFL star started talking about Jesus? No, that's not true: Watson, who was at the time a tight end for the New Orleans Saints, was interviewed via satellite feed by CNN journalist Brooke Baldwin on November 28, 2014. The topic of the interview was not football, but…

Does a video circulating on social media show crowds protesting the increasing cost of living in London on April 1, 2023? No, that's not true: The footage is from a 2018 anti-Brexit rally. The claim appeared in a video posted on Facebook on April 3, 2023. Its in-built caption said: London 01/04/2023 Cost of living March. This is what it…

Does a "new report" prove that an estimated "26.6 million people were injured, 1.36 million disabled, and 300,000 excess deaths can be attributed to COVID-19 vaccine damages in 2022 alone"? No, that's not true: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provided data from a government report, which told a much different story. It said that tens of millions…

Did White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre say that the United States is "deeply concerned" about China and Brazil switching to national currencies when conducting business with each other? No, that's not true: A search of sections of the White House website covering "Statements and Releases" and "Press Briefings" produced no such statements by Jean-Pierre or any other White House…

Is it possible to purchase real Forever Stamps at deep discounts through online resellers? No, that's not true: The United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the federal law enforcement agency of the United States Postal Service, has issued a warning about the escalating problem of counterfeit stamps. USPIS warns that third-party wholesalers offer bulk quantities of stamps at discounts from…

Is the Federal Reserve's FedNow service now the primary form of currency in the United States? No, that's not true: FedNow is just an instant payment system and will not change the currency infrastructure in the United States. Rather, the service will make it easier to transfer money between entities and financial institutions. The claim appeared in a video (archived…

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…