The importance of information and news in today's world cannot be overstated. News is one of the main ways we stay informed about our surroundings and the rest of the world, which helps us keep up with trends and events. However, if the information provided to us is false, we may suffer the consequences of failing to verify each piece of information's authenticity and source.
In light of this, it is crucial to verify every piece of information that is presented to us because, in today's world, technology and other means are used to make lies and false information appear to be true. This has a negative impact on many people's lives and even caused some to become bankrupt, experience heartbreak, or even pass away too soon.
I've experienced various situations in my life where I was the victim of fake news. In some of those, I fell for the lies and bad things happened, but in others, I was fortunate to overcome these situations because I was savvy enough to confirm all the sources and networks associated with the initiative news's origin.
I recently received a private message on Facebook from a close friend of mine telling me about a new platform he recently joined that is paying him $100,000 from just $5,000 worth of investment within two days. Deep down, I knew this was too good to be true, and I wanted to call him so we could talk more, but I guess the hacker knew better, so he lied about being in a noisy place and sent me screenshots of his transaction instead to win my trust.
The screenshot of the transaction looks so really and even carried the name of my friend, to further earn my trust, he told me to check his Facebook wall so I could see more proof of the transaction and how our other friends were vouching for him and thanking him for introducing them to such a life-saving site. I did so, and it was just as he had said it would be.
Though I won't still fall easily because I usually make sure to do a have a voice chat with my friends and record the conversation whenever it relate to financial transactions, but one thing gave him up, a particular one of my friend whose account was hacked alongside the other, is someone who can hardly construct a meaningful sentences in English, but this hacker wrote a perfect English sentences with his account, so I knew immediately that something is fishy, and I called my friend to inform them about what an hacker is doing with their Facebook account.
That's how I got out of the trap that was set up to look so real with lies and fake news. I later learned that several other people had fallen for it and lost money, but after my experience, I'm confident they wouldn't believe anything that first appears to be true without doing more research.
Thank you for reading this far; I hope you learned something. This article was inspired by the @hive-learners community feature topic; you can read @kronias post for more information.
