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Fake News Scam Sites Advertising On Real News Sites

Posted by kdawson on from the maze-of-twisty-passages dept.

Virtual_Raider writes "Wired is running a story about a new twist in the never-ending quest to prove P. T. Barnum's adage. Old: Scammers are creating fake news sites that look almost like the real thing. New: They are advertising on real news sites, making it difficult for unwary readers to catch on they are being duped with fake coverage of get-rich-quick scams. Among those running the scam 'news' ads are the Huffington Post and Salon. From the article: 'The story has art, it has a sidebar, there's weather, supposed reader comments — even ads. Steadman is described as "a mother from San Francisco" — at least, when I read the article. Thanks to cutting-edge reporting techniques perfected by News 5, she will automatically move to the geolocation of your internet IP address when you read it. Look, she lives right in your neighborhood!'" Forbes also wrote about the scam news sites a couple of weeks back.

7 of 128 comments (clear)

  1. Yeah, they're all claiming Michael Jackson died... by kclittle · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... just to get you to click thru

    --
    Generally, bash is superior to python in those environments where python is not installed.
  2. We are all traveling... by wrekd · · Score: 3, Funny

    We are all traveling on the disinformation superhighway.

  3. Fake news site by MyLongNickName · · Score: 4, Funny

    I got redirected to an obviously fake news site.

    --
    See my journal for slashdot ID's by year. Mine created in 2005. http://slashdot.org/journal/289875/slashdot-ids-by-year
  4. Re:You almost got me... by Freetardo+Jones · · Score: 4, Funny

    You thought something posted by kdawson was a real article? You must be new here.

  5. Re:What news sites is it showing up on? by geekoid · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now what did the Onion do to deserve being listed with HuffPo~

    --
    The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
  6. "ideas like effective government action" by smittyoneeach · · Score: 5, Funny

    Wow, that beats "vegan haggis" for oxymoron of the day.

    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  7. Oh Come On by castorvx · · Score: 3, Funny

    Fox has to get traffic somehow.