You might still wonder why would anyone create a hoax, what could they possible gain from it?

So why do people create a hoax or a scam warning? Well, here are just a couple of reasons why people do this and how it can be avoided:

  1. Trolling - Yes some people, normally but not always young kids or teenagers think it's really funny to see people panic and share THEIR false information on the Internet, they simply get a kick out of it.
  2. Gain Shares or Likes - Is it a page on Facebook, account on Twitter etc? Sometimes hoaxes are created just so people can gain shares and likes on their page and account, then later on when the dust settles, the account is changed and often sold.
  3. Personal Attack - Believe me or not, a lot of the the warning on social media about a certain persona are malicious attacks against some person in a form or cyber bullying or revenge.
  4. Competition Attack - To issue a warning about certain email has bee used to prevent good email marketing campaigns by the competitor using a dirty tactic to issue a virus warning with the headline or email issuer.
  5. Sell Services - Yes, virus alerts are often issued with an attempt to sell a software to people to 'remove it'.
  6. Spreading Viruses or Malware - This might be a real product or a way to infect your device with virus by itself! Pretty clever eh? Issue a virus hoax in order to get you install a virus on your device!


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Karax Premium
very valuable and useful info. thank you!
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ArtByHeart Premium
Glad you liked it!
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DennisD1 Premium
Thanks for the info.
Dennis
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ArtByHeart Premium
Welcome!
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WilliamBH Premium
Thanks Mira .. good to put on the table for everyones attention. Cheers, William.
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ArtByHeart Premium
You are very welcome! Thnx for sharing it :-)
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YKing Premium
Thanks for the lesson .
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ArtByHeart Premium
Very welcome. It happens so much, I come across a new hoax every day in my line of work.
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MKearns Premium
Sometimes if words are misspelled or in jumbled quasi foreign language, its a giveaway that the message is a hoax!
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ArtByHeart Premium
Very true! ! But it is not only non English speakers who create hoaxes. Many are made by college kids :-)
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