Bait And Switch

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 police in Charlottesville, Virginia pick up a homeless dogcalled Chloe and offer her for adoption when the owner refused to take her back? No, that's not true: The post that makes this claim is deceptively using a picture of a Texas animal rescue to draw readers to a page on Facebook that employs "bait and switch" content to lure…

Was a young girl found alone at a gas station in multiple cities across the United States? No, that's not true: The claim is a scam meant to trick people into sharing the post. The post is an example of a common -- and deceptive -- method of advertising real estate in local markets. An example of the claim appeared…

Did Robin Roberts, the longtime co-host of ABC Television's "Good Morning America" (GMA) die on January 30, 2023? No, that's not true: As of February 1, 2023, Roberts remained alive and well, and actively posting on Instagram from New Zealand. The post implying that she had died is a ruse to get readers to an ad for CBD products. The…

Are police asking for help identifying a young woman who was allegedly mugged, stabbed and left for dead on a roadside? No, that's not true: The claim is a hoax meant to trick people into sharing the post to garner attention -- a "bait and switch" tactic used by scammers to redirect people to deceptive real estate advertising and other…

Does the movie "Died Suddenly" demonstrate that COVID-19 vaccinations cause widespread sudden death or severe medical outcomes? No, that's not true: The film recycles previously debunked claims that the vaccine is lethal or dangerous for the average person receiving it. More than 5.45 billion people have been vaccinated worldwide and public health experts recommend immunization against the virus, saying it…

Did good Samaritans bring a critically injured dog who had been hit by a vehicle to a veterinary clinic? And is there now an effort to try to find the owners of the injured dog so the owners know what happened to her and where she is? No, that's not true: Although this did happen in Alberta, Canada, on August…

Did former President Donald Trump collapse on the golf course? No, that's not true: There is no evidence of his collapse and the assertion is a ruse used to entice readers into clicking on a video about a different Trump-related topic. The claim appeared in a Facebook post from October 10, 2022, under the title "George Conway Just Dropped a…

Did the Ukrainian military fire a missile at the Kerch bridge in Russian-occupied Crimea, taking out a convoy of Russian tanks? No, that's not true: The video with this claim says the damage was caused by a truck that exploded on the bridge on October 8, 2022, and makes no mention of tanks. The claim appeared in a Facebook post…

Was former President Donald Trump awakened out of bed by investigators seeking to search his Mar-a-Lago residence, as the headline of a video claims? No, that's not true: The video itself never mentions the search of the Florida property -- it's about the U.S. Capitol insurrection -- and its headline is a ploy to entice clicks. The claim appeared in…