Many strange stories do the rounds via the internet, social media and e-mail. Silly, but sometimes not so innocent.
fake stories
A hoax (pronounced: hooks) is an English word with two meanings. The first is: made-up stories intended to fool other people. The second meaning is that of a fake warning. So an (email) message to warn you about something. It could be anything. Often it has to do with crime and fraud. You are strongly urged to forward the message to everyone you know. Such stories spread quickly.
Hoax examples
They could be harmless fake stories, like the story about a train full of gold. But some hoaxes are designed to harm or scare people. Think of the story that deaf people/Romanians/asylum seekers hand out key rings at gas stations. It would contain a GPS chip with which the location of your house can be found. Burglars can then strike. Or about criminals who throw eggs at the windshields of cars to rob the occupants when they stop at the roadside to clean it. Scary stories, but nothing true.
Recognizing the hoax
A general advice is to pay close attention as soon as someone calls you via an email or a message on social media such as Facebook to forward a warning or a remarkable story. Or if you are requested to post the story yourself on your timeline on Facebook. Think of stories that people can guarantee their privacy on Facebook with a certain statement on their timeline. That’s nonsense you don’t want to spread further! It is best to first find out whether the story is correct.
This can be done, for example, by typing in some keywords on Google. In the example above, for example, you type ‘privacy statement facebook’ into Google. You will immediately find some sites that indicate that it is a hoax. It is also wise to consult multiple sources that are reliable. Think of official bodies and serious news media.