Does it sound too good to be true? It probably is. I clicked a link from an About.com news story. Should be okay, it's the New York Times for Pete's sake.
http://markets.about.com/about/news/read?GUID=17855217
I read this: Read our shocking news report on e-cigarette. You will be surprised what we found.
So I did. It brought me to a "news" site http://www.channel7wbc.com/electronic-cigarettes.htm
It is a "Channel 7" News station that tells of a news anchor who quit smoking lickety split with an electronic cigarette that could be smoked in public places. The problem is that the call letters WBTV belong to a TV station in North Carolina, and they have no such news anchor.And it is on channel 3.
Are you getting all this? I did a little more fooling around and there actually is a "channel7wbc" web site with news from September 27, 2010. Interestingly enough, the links work to some extent. This is a very elaborate hoax. It works on several levels, all the way to the point where the venerable New York Times takes their money for their phony advertising.
In sum, it might be in writing, but if it on the internet it can easily be a phony. Please my friends, be careful.
No comments:
Post a Comment