# Don't believe everything you see: 26 hoaxes we fell for this year (HT Tech) > There is no escaping this trap. Like in the past, this year too saw the rise and fall of many hoaxes, and we fell for most of them. What is even scarier is that with the growing influence of social media in our life, fake information found easier avenues for virality this year. # Don't believe everything you see: 26 hoaxes we fell for this year ## There is no escaping this trap. Like in the past, this year too saw the rise and fall of many hoaxes, and we fell for most of them. What is even scarier is that with the growing influence of social media in our life, fake information found easier avenues for virality this year. Dec 30 2014, 19:11 IST ![Follow on Facebook](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/follow-us-facebook.png) ![Follow on Facebook](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/follow-us-facebook-hover.png) ![Share](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/Share.png) ![Share](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/Shareclicked.png) ![Share on WhatsApp](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/whatsapp.png) ![Share on WhatsApp](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/whatsapp-hover.png) ![Share on Twitter](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/twitter.png) ![Share on Twitter](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/twitter-hover.png) ![Share on Facebook](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/facebook.png) ![Share on Facebook](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/facebook-hover.png) ![Bookmark](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/Bookmark.png) ![Bookmarked](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/Bookmarked.png) ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/rf/image_size_800x600/HT/p1/2011/12/27/Incoming/Pictures/787703_Wallpaper2.jpg) ![Author Photo](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/HTTech-new-circle-logo.png) ### By VISHAKHA SAXENA There is no escaping this trap. Like in the past, this year too saw the rise and fall of many hoaxes, and we fell for most of them. What is even scarier is that with the growing influence of social media in our life, fake information found easier avenues for virality this year. Here's our list of rumours that most of us fell for: 1. That this tragic picture of a bloody shoe is from the Peshawar school siege Also read click here. ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/Images/popup/2014/12/shoe.jpg) Actually this heartening image is from the Gaza-Palestine conflict and both sides have used it quite liberally. 2. Ebola victims are dying and turning into zombies ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/ht-tech-bg-img-245-140.png) 3. That NASA had confirmed the Earth will experience six days of darkness ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/ht-tech-bg-img-245-140.png) Really, don't believe everything you read. 4. iPhone's iOS8 feature 'WAVE' can charge your phone via microwave frequencies > I tried using the new IOS 8 feature WAVE where you can charge your phone with a microwave, does not work @Applepic.twitter.com/IWsWnVboUl— fallen (@neIIaf) September 18, 2014 Well played, internet. 5. Google Satellite's image of a 'broken down plane' during Karachi airport attack ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/ht-tech-bg-img-245-140.png) As believable as the images seemed, authorities confirmed that the attackers were unable to harm a single plane. 6. That Steven Spielberg really killed a dinosaur Thanks, Facebook. Just FYI, dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years now. 7. That this is how an aurora looks from space > No, that's NOT a real picture of an aurora from space. http://t.co/tOaRTL2IyL#GrrrFacebookpic.twitter.com/hOgnPToS6T— Phil Plait (@BadAstronomer) December 11, 2014 8. That you'll be charged for using Facebook ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/ht-tech-bg-img-245-140.png) That would've never ended well. 9. That 4chan was going to leak nude pictures of Emma Watson ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/ht-tech-bg-img-245-140.png) 10. This is how India looked from space on Diwali ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/ht-tech-bg-img-245-140.png) Wishful thinking. The image was actually developed by Nasa to illustrate the growth of India's population over the years. 11. That Julian Assange endorsed Narendra Modi ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/ht-tech-bg-img-245-140.png) As Wikileaks clarified that the said 'endorsement' was a lie, memes of 'Assange endorsing things' became quite popular on Twitter and Facebook. 12. The iPhone 6 is contaminated with the Ebola virus I don't even. 13. That Honey Singh is dead. So are Dilip Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar ... Jackie Chan, Macaulay Culkin and Betty White were also victims of the death hoax. 14. That this 179-year-old Indian is the oldest man alive ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/ht-tech-bg-img-245-140.png) Everyone loves a miracle. 15. That Lord Hanuman's gada was excavated in Sri Lanka this year ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/ht-tech-bg-img-245-140.png) 16. Actor Aamir Khan joined Instagram ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/ht-tech-bg-img-245-140.png) Read: Aamir Khan reveals Instagram account is fake 17. That the forever-loved American sitcom Friends will be back soon... as a movie This one hurt. *sniff* 18. Cult street artist Banksy had been identified and arrested ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/ht-tech-bg-img-245-140.png) No one realised that the story was published on National Report, a popular satire news website. 19. That Mars will be as big as the moon on August 27, 2014 According to this Wikipedia page, people have been falling for this one since 2003! Much amaze. 20. That this is what it looks like when a plane flies over a rainbow ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/ht-tech-bg-img-245-140.png) Seriously. Everyone fell for this one. > ARGHHHHH pic.twitter.com/np9Gr2qhrs— Jonathan Haynes (@JonathanHaynes) October 29, 2014 21. That this is what a toilet looks like in Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych's mansion > Ridiculous toilet at Yanukovych's palace #euromaidan#Kievpic.twitter.com/5b4w7zUYNi— James Farro (@JF991) February 22, 2014 Like, a boss. Not! 22. France introduced a new law banning work after 6pm And the world was a less jealous place. 23. That this is the official Twitter account of North Korea 24. On Jan 4, 2015, planetary alignment will decrease gravity for 5 minutes and cause partial weightlessness ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/ht-tech-bg-img-245-140.png) #FacepalmMax 25. That Barack Obama's 16-year-old daughter Malia Obama is pregnant ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/ht-tech-bg-img-245-140.png) The trolls, unfortunately, had a field day. 26. That #AlexFromTarget was a marketing gig ![image caption](https://images.hindustantimes.com/tech/static/revamp/images/png/ht-tech-bg-img-245-140.png) The hoax that this was a marketing gig was itself a marketing gig. #Alexfromtarget was a 100% pure magic of teenagers. Pssst: This is not an exhaustive list. Catch all the Latest Tech News, Mobile News, Laptop News, Gaming news, Wearables News , How To News, also keep up with us on Whatsapp channel,Twitter, Facebook, Google News, and Instagram. 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