North Carolina

Are social media posts about a 3-year-old girl named Alliyah Evans who supposedly was kidnapped from a Target store in various locations real? No, that's not true: The posts that say that she is missing in several different places -- like Greenville, North Carolina; Georgetown, Kentucky; and Stuttgart, Arkansas -- are part of a bait-and-switch scheme. Typically, users post emotional…

Did the Minnesota Vikings football team denounce Tim Walz as a man whose values they do not support? No, that's not true: The comment comes from a satirical Facebook page that explicitly warns readers not to take it seriously. America -- Love It Or Leave It categorizes its Facebook page as satire/parody. The claim appeared in a post on Facebook…

Does a video clip show former President Donald Trump confusing whether he was in Pennsylvania or North Carolina during one of his political rallies? No, that's not true: At the beginning of this particular rally, he gives a shout-out to a group of North Carolina women who regularly attend his events. In the short clip used in a social media…

Did Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz sign a bill "allowing gender reassignment surgery for children"? No, that's not true: No state law sets a specific minimum age for gender-affirming surgical interventions, a Minnesota lawmaker told Lead Stories. Major health care providers do not operate on people under 18. One bill signed into law protects youth access to those services discussed in…

Did authentic social media posts offer genuine concern over a missing teen named Kaniesa Perez? No, that's not true: The posts exploit a real missing teen story and falsely say that Kaniesa Perez went missing on the same day from Dover, Pennsylvania, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, among other locations more than a thousand miles apart. In reality, the teen went…

Did teenager Misty Lang go missing after leaving a friend's home in Ohio, Michigan, California, and numerous other locations? No, that's not true: Posts saying she vanished from anywhere other than Decatur, Alabama, are part of a bait-and-switch scam. As of July 12, 2024, Lang has been missing from Decatur, Alabama since July 4, 2024. One example of such a…

Is there an active "silver alert" in July 2024 for a 5-year-old girl called "Sofia" who is missing in Edinburgh, Scotland, according to a post on Facebook? No, that's not true: A real estate ad later replaced similar versions of the post about "Sofia." These changes appear to be part of a long-established scam that uses a heart-wrenching tale and…

Is a social media post about a missing child named 'Chloe' current? No, that's not true: The girl pictured in the post was missing but was safely found as of June 18, 2024. Social media posts share the information about the missing child and then switch to a real estate scam. The false narrative is part of a scam that…

Is there an identical "treasured item" being found in multiple locations at the same time? No, that's not true: The social media posts that describe this alleged loss are bait-and-switch posts. These posts use made-up stories to garner engagement. Once they get enough, the posters switch the content to advertise real estate. The claim appeared in a post (the post…

Did more than 40,000 Houstonians test positive for sexually transmitted diseases during the week of June 17, 2024, as a post on Facebook claimed? No, that's not true: The Houston Health Department told Lead Stories that the "post includes overstated numbers and incorrect information." The statistics refer to the entire state of Texas, not just the city of Houston. Furthermore,…