Hoax

A hoax is an intentional falsehood that is deliberately designed to trick people into believing something that is not true. A hoax arises when someone creates a fake story and attempts to pass it off as though it were true. Although similar in some instances to practical jokes or pranks, hoaxes are usually larger and more complicated efforts that are often intended to mislead or even defraud people. Not all hoaxes are crafted with malicious intent, however. Many are lighthearted in nature and are meant only to entertain or amuse. Some hoaxes are also staged to raise awareness of important social or political issues or as a creative way to promote a product. In any event, the hoax is a longstanding cultural tradition that dates back to the Middle Ages and continues to be a common part of life in the modern world.

Types of Hoaxes

There are many types of hoaxes. Most can be classified based on their subject matter and intended purpose. Some broad hoax categories include media hoaxes, internet hoaxes, historical hoaxes, anthropological hoaxes, scientific hoaxes, promotional hoaxes, and health hoaxes.

Media hoaxes are perhaps the most prevalent type of hoax in the modern world. Such hoaxes can take on different forms and are designed to fulfill various purposes. Most media hoaxes appear in the form of inaccurate or even entirely fabricated news stories that are designed to mislead people into adopting a certain opinion or political point of view. Untrustworthy news websites or other questionable media outlets that promote extreme political views or have a clear political bias often orchestrate and perpetuate hoaxes of this nature.

Since its inception in the late twentieth century, the internet has become fertile ground for the perpetuation of all sorts of deceptive hoaxes. Common types of internet hoaxes include email scams, phishing scams, and work-at-home scams. Most of these hoaxes are designed to fool people into sending money or giving their personal information to con artists who seek personal gain. The advent of social media has also made it easier for all types of hoaxes to spread. The ability to quickly share messages or uninformed articles to large amounts of people has increased the reach of different hoaxes and misinformation.

Historical hoaxes often involve fake historical artifacts that are "discovered" by people looking to make a name for themselves or cash in on their alleged finds. In some cases, fake artifacts have been considered real for many years before their true nature was eventually revealed.

Much like historical hoaxes, anthropological hoaxes also involve fake artifacts. In the case of anthropological hoaxes, however, these artifacts include things like human and animal remains or other supposed evidence of early lifeforms and civilizations. Many of these hoaxes involved fabricated archeological finds that were actually created by the person claiming to have found them.

Scientific hoaxes typically revolve around erroneous explanations for various scientific phenomena or supposed breakthroughs that turn out to be false. Many scientific hoaxes are related to things like aliens, the paranormal, and a broad range of other common conspiracy theory subjects.

Promotional hoaxes are those designed to help advertise a product or convince people to spend money in some other way. Such hoaxes are often part of a carefully orchestrated marketing scheme aimed at getting consumers' attention and giving them a reason to part with their hard-earned money.

Health hoaxes include both the faking of medical symptoms or diseases and claims that certain products can prevent, cure, or treat diseases or health conditions without medical or scientific confirmation. The former hoax has historically been performed by people who are looking for public attention or to get out of trouble with the law, while the latter hoax can monetarily benefit the makers of the supported project but can have serious medical ramifications.

Notable Hoaxes

Media hoaxes can take different forms. While many of these hoaxes are malicious in nature and explicitly meant to mislead people, others are presented entirely in jest. One such hoax was the BBC's infamous Swiss Spaghetti Harvest broadcast. On the night of April 1, 1957, the respected BBC news program Panorama aired a segment on the ongoing spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. Meant as an April Fools' Day joke, the segment was presented as though it was a serious report and even featured footage of Swiss field workers plucking spaghetti off tree branches. Although it should be obvious that no spaghetti trees actually exist, many unsuspecting viewers thought the report was legitimate.

One media hoax that was malicious in nature resulted in embarrassment for the newspaper and a returned Pulitzer Prize. In 1980, reporter Janet Cooke published an article entitled “Jimmy’s World” in the Washington Post. The article told the heart-wrenching story of an eight-year-old third generation heroin addict. The article described in graphic detail the ordeals of the environment and garnered empathy from the nation. The story was submitted for the Pulitzer and Cooke won in 1981. However, the close attention to her story allowed many to notate the discrepancies. Faced with the inconsistencies, Cooke eventually admitted to making up the story and relinquished her prize. The story was harmful to the Black community that was portrayed in the story, but people were willing to believe it because of the perpetual stereotypes about inner-city Black communities circulating during that time.

Another common type of media hoax is the celebrity death hoax. Numerous celebrities have fallen victim to premature reports of their deaths over the years, especially with the rise of the internet. One of the most famous and elaborate celebrity death hoaxes in history is the "Paul is Dead" hoax concerning the alleged death of the Beatles' Paul McCartney. According to the associated legend, the real McCartney was killed in a 1966 car accident and replaced by a lookalike. After the rumor first surfaced in 1969, Beatles fans scoured through song lyrics and poured over album covers looking for clues to the incident that the surviving band members supposedly inserted in their work.

Among the wide variety of hoaxes perpetrated on the internet, none is more notorious than the Nigerian email scam. In this hoax, a con artist from Nigeria or some other foreign country sends the intended victim an email posing as an imprisoned royal or the lawyer of a wealthy and recently deceased American expatriate. The victim is promised a large amount of money in exchange for the funds needed to secure the royal's release or to pay the bribes, taxes, and/or other fees involved in transferring a large inheritance. In reality, there is no reward or inheritance and the victim is continually bilked for more money until he or she realizes what is happening.

One of the most memorable historical and anthropological hoaxes was that of the alleged Cardiff Giant. In 1869, a group of workers tasked with digging a well at a farm in Cardiff, New York, discovered what appeared to be the petrified remains of an ancient giant. The find created a public sensation, but its veracity was quickly disproven. Within a year, an atheist named George Hull admitted that he made and buried the giant as a way to expose the gullibility of those who interpreted the Bible literally.

Another type of historical hoax includes U.S. senator Joseph McCarthy's perpetration of one of the most notorious hoaxes of modern times in February 1950 in Wheeling, West Virginia. Brandishing a piece of paper, the contents of which are unknown, McCarthy claimed to have the names of 205 communist subversives working in the U.S. Department of State. The senator later reduced this number, and he was never able to provide any evidence of radical employees. Most historians believe that McCarthy simply made up his claim. Nevertheless, the allegation that there were radicals working within the U.S. government to overthrow it influenced many in McCarthy’s day to support the suppression of communism.

Few scientific hoaxes have been as enduring as that of the Loch Ness Monster. Based on the legend of a monstrous creature that supposedly inhabits Scotland's Loch Ness, the hoax has a long history that first began in the Middle Ages. The Loch Ness Monster hoax took on new life in the twentieth century as a number of individuals came forward with photographs purporting to show the monster. Despite the fact that all of these photos were eventually proven fake, the "Nessie" legend remains as strong as ever.

In 2020, during the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, several health hoaxes became prominent on social media. Support for drugs like hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine as treatments for coronavirus spread quickly—use was even promoted by President Donald Trump—however, medical professionals denounced rumors of their effectiveness. The hoax was not only dangerous to those who believed it and used the drugs, but also to those who needed the drugs for other diseases as the hoax led to drug shortages.

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