tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59357140229943081632024-03-05T05:59:16.641-05:00ScambustingDedicated to educating the masses on scams, hoaxes, quackery and questionable practices. To provide them with tools to make this a better world!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger281125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-19779576029999188932022-11-24T10:21:00.002-05:002022-11-24T10:21:52.225-05:00Bait & Switch Scams on Facebook The feeds on many public groups (seems to be a lot of buy&sell groups like "Windsor Buy and sell car's, truck's, van's, suv's") are filled with scams. Some are fake lost persons, dogs, children etc. What these scammers do is get people to share these fake posts because of an emotional appeal and then later on will often switch the pic to another scam promoting a fake house rental (for Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-10828876983038640932022-03-06T12:55:00.002-05:002022-03-06T12:55:47.428-05:00Light Love Photons Recently I've seen this floating around on social media...OOOOK?!.So it says a "scientifically controlled study". Well let's look at that shall we? Here is a link to the "study" https://journals.sfu.ca/seemj/index.php/seemj/article/viewFile/56/44One of the first things that is apparent is this involves only one participant. That is hardly anything Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-5012046262808842482021-01-24T10:06:00.009-05:002021-01-25T10:26:42.659-05:00Assessing Lockdowns The COVID-19 pandemic antimaskers like to try to cite scientific sources that support their position. Of course they ignore all the other data (cherry picking) and even more often don't even bother to read the actual study and check it out.One such study being spread around is: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/eci.13484OK, so it appears to be peer-reviewed, but I'm Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-20567051844245537792021-01-09T11:18:00.003-05:002021-01-09T11:18:47.734-05:00Why I Dislike Motivational Posters It's no secret I dislike motivational posters. I like many motivational speakers even less. The reason is that many motivational speakers are quite often the get-rich-quick gurus selling scammy stuff (from useless wealth 'programs' to pyramid schemes). They spout nonsense like "The Secret", and create a culture of narcissism, greed and lack of empathy. I Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-26303467063356183762020-11-22T11:40:00.007-05:002020-11-22T12:43:36.713-05:00Hi-Ho Silver Away! Oh the rabbit holes I go down sometimes...A person sent me a friend request on Facebook. I checked out his wall. It was filled with a lot of those guru inspirational quotes. Definitely not my thing as I find them problematic (that's a topic of discussion for another day). I then saw he had multiple posts about a holistic dental service. I was aware of this Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-75530052564326081222020-11-21T08:19:00.004-05:002020-11-21T08:21:18.149-05:00Healy Scam I came across this video debunking the Healy device. The makers of this device make some pretty big unsubstantiated claimshttps://youtu.be/9wYBCKCSHcIThanks to Sir Sic for making the video :)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-12173283807407890352020-10-10T20:36:00.004-04:002020-10-10T20:40:53.679-04:00Does Turkey Make You Sleepy? Around Thanksgiving we always hear the same old story about feeling tired after eating turkey.So is there any truth to that?Not really. Most try to blame tryptophan (more specifically L-Tryptophan). L-tryptophan is an essential amino acid (building blocks of protein).We must get Tryptophan through diet as our body cannot make it itself. Turkey is rich in Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-55239972887489363482020-09-28T19:48:00.003-04:002020-09-29T09:22:09.373-04:00HPV Vaccine Causes Transsexuality?!?!? Check out this ridiculous post from a chiro on FacebookFirst off, I don't think she quite understands what an epidemic is. 6 girls over 5 years does not make an epidemic lolSo yes, she is claiming that the HPV vaccine is causing girls to be transgender. This of course begs the question of where did the transgender persons come from before the HPV vaccine? Yeah, it doesn't Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-62879904590368297022020-08-29T14:35:00.000-04:002020-08-29T14:35:13.376-04:00Can you measure remaining daylight with your fingers? This image is being spread on social media. This idea has been passed around before. Does it work? As far as I can tell it would give an reasonable estimate. The problem that is not mentioned though is that looking at the sun directly can cause eye damage (temporary or permanent) if done with the unaided eye. This is why with a sextant (a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-3406876286457705642020-07-21T10:23:00.000-04:002020-07-21T10:23:29.067-04:00Face Masks and Driving WarningThis seems to be going around social media today...
While the text here seems to be a sincere warning, there is more behind it...
The first thing I noticed is that it is very unlikely that someone would pass out from wearing a face mask. Numerous studies and real-time example have shown that your oxygen level is not depleted when wearing a mask. Now there may be certain medical Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-17123345720018310432020-07-15T09:36:00.000-04:002020-07-15T09:36:08.594-04:00Cheryl Gilbert Face Mask ChlamydiaThis post has been making the rounds...
It has been shared by multiple on social media and on some news networks since June 25th post on a WIS TV social media.
Looking up Cheryl's Facebook account, and seeing all her visible posts and replies, it is safe to say this is most likely a trolling account, but a very funny one.
Some of her posts include gems like:
There is even a Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-49292944191431357932020-07-07T15:20:00.001-04:002020-07-07T15:20:16.645-04:00Passenger Using Cellphone will get you a $1500 Fine in Canada?Canada-eh(dot)info put out this "article"
The article doesn't go into much detail but it has some obvious glaring errors. Driving laws are the responsibility of each Province and Territory. Thus each has it's own fines and demerit points. So stating that in Canada this would be the fine, just doesn't make sense.
Canada-eh is also a know purveyor of false and Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-44152046489555644362020-06-29T13:59:00.001-04:002020-06-29T13:59:26.952-04:00Denver Mural COVID 19 Hoax?Does this 1994 mural at the Denver airport show a prophecy of COVID-19?
Nope. This is a hoax. This painting was recently done and it is not at the Denver airport.
It is a piece called "MASK-COMMUNICATION" It was created by a Filipino Christian Joy Trinidad for COVID-19 awareness. Christian did the painting to remind that clear communication and unity should still dominate Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-1080858537596915992020-06-25T16:46:00.001-04:002020-06-25T17:08:11.706-04:00COVID 19 Vaccine Trials Guinea Pigs?A friend shared this article
The article is very positive, yet somehow many are taking it as a negative and spouting conspiracy theories such as
"You know why I’ll tell you why because black lives don’t matter"
"Bill gates and Fauci have a goal to delete the world population by a lot so they go to Africans first"
"They test shit out in Africa because they don't give a shit Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-33871435093418441702020-06-23T12:39:00.001-04:002020-06-23T12:39:45.803-04:00GM Mosquito
A friend asked me about this article. My response:
Well "anonymous" is famously not a great source (they get some things right and some things wrong) so that's always taken with a grain of salt for me. That being said, it is true that the company is looking to release the GM skeeters (males only). The idea behind them is sound in regards to reducing the skeeter population. Male Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-35785690171812321072020-06-18T18:21:00.000-04:002020-06-18T18:21:34.781-04:00COVID-19 Spread MapThis map is being passed around on social media.
While the map is technically accurate, it is a little misleading when you are not reading the information correctly.
Here is the original source: https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html?fbclid=IwAR0rpTf-yQ4BLgMIoiTzvZxynbo8JqBeiFm0Le9XSX7sT54-tqWUchdb32k
You'll note that not in every country does it show the distribution of the Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-7626211236467350672020-06-15T12:19:00.003-04:002020-06-15T12:20:37.736-04:00COVID Charity ScamI totally forgot to post this months ago (whoops).
This obvious scam is not just relevant to the COVID-19 pandemic, but happens continuously through various rewrites and tagged on current issues. This particular person claims to be from the military (this is somehow supposed to create sympathy). Now why someone in the military couldn't afford internet is strange to me. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-53901380573168435252020-06-15T11:44:00.001-04:002020-06-15T11:44:19.246-04:00Home Depot Giveaway Scam
Another day another giveaway scam.
Do not share these links. Home Depot (and other companies like Pizza Pizza, Walmart, Molson's, etc...) are not giving away free products or large sums of money to everyone who shares some link.
These links often request information that can be used to either identity steal, send viruses or tag you for future scams as they view you as gullible.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-82510699987845435392020-03-27T09:08:00.001-04:002020-03-27T09:08:46.221-04:00GOOP's Holistic Psychiatrist and COVID-19I've come across Kelly Brogan before through the Science Based Medicine blog. She is a known anti-vaxxer and purveyor of quackery including pushing the idea that depression symptoms are caused by diet. She is a very good example of how someone with a medical degree can spout complete nonsense.
Now during the COVID-19 pandemic, Brogan gives some of her outrageous views
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-72304068746588781812020-03-26T09:14:00.001-04:002020-06-28T09:51:00.612-04:00COVID-19 vs FluMany people keep trying to compare the coronavirus to the flu. Here's a quick post to show why you shouldn't do that.
While many of the symptoms are similar for both, that does not make them comparable. Especially when comparing death rates.
COVID-19 is the name of the coronavirus strain.
The flu is many different strains including H1N1, H3N2, H3N2v, Victoria Lineage, YamagataUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-51161835528219883982020-03-19T20:35:00.000-04:002020-03-19T20:35:14.784-04:00Coronavirus and 5G Debunked
Don't be like this person who posted a conspiracy video about COVID-19. We don't need fear and misinformation in the world at this time (or any time for that matter).
The lady in this video goes all out conspiracy nut. Not only does she have poor ideas about 5G and EMF, but she also is a vaccine denialist (blaming Bill Gates for using vaccines to kill off the population.&Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-15047017899557828912020-03-19T10:56:00.000-04:002020-03-19T10:57:19.220-04:00Walmart $55 Hoax
These types of scams will pop up a lot during the COVID-19 quarantines and shutdowns. People will be scrambling for money as their income becomes very limited to non-existent. These scams will be enticing because of that.
If you see a post like this saying a company will give free product, money, etc to everyone that shares, it is most likely a scam. Do not click on the link Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-38081356574241460982020-03-19T08:38:00.001-04:002020-03-19T08:41:15.581-04:00Coronavirus was the Flu hoax
Another day another coronavirus hoax. This will be a quick one...hopefully.
The first thing I see is the phrase "my Daughter took her Daughter". That is a very clunky phrase to write instead of just saying my granddaughter. Sure people probably will say that from time to time, but it does get my "something is off" alarm ringing telling me to be cautious.
I am not sureUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-2960053914365714222020-03-15T08:38:00.000-04:002020-03-15T08:41:41.318-04:00Corona Virus Drinking Water HoaxThere are lots of hoaxes and misinformation about the coronavirus. It is best to seek information from qualified sources like CDC, Health Canada, etc.
Some of the misinformation include:
Drinking cow urine to ward off the virus
Holding your breath can diagnose if you are contaminated
It's a population control procedure put out by the illuminati
It's caused by the Devil
You can Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5935714022994308163.post-85128702255912617402020-03-12T13:29:00.001-04:002020-03-12T13:32:07.648-04:00Weightloss Scams
You might have seen a Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram post similar to this over the past decade. This is a common clickbait marketing scheme used by mlm/pyramid scheme supplement companies. As often is the case with many mlm's they never tell you upfront what the product is. They have to message you. The reason being is because if the put the company/product out, Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0