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The hoax is considered to be the first hoax to reach a mass audience on the Internet. [7] Despite debunking by Microsoft, similar stories about Microsoft and other companies implementing unrealistic acquisitions continued. The Miscovich emeralds hoax, an attempt by a diver to pass modern emeralds off as treasures from a sunken Spanish galleon.
The English philologist Robert Nares (1753–1829) says that the word hoax was coined in the late 18th century as a contraction of the verb hocus, which means "to cheat", "to impose upon" [3] or (according to Merriam-Webster) "to befuddle often with drugged liquor." [4] Hocus is a shortening of the magic incantation hocus pocus, [4] whose ...
The Spanish Prisoner scam—and its modern variant, the advance-fee scam or "Nigerian letter scam"—involves enlisting the mark to aid in retrieving some stolen money from its hiding place. The victim sometimes believes they can cheat the con artists out of their money, but anyone trying this has already fallen for the essential con by ...
Regardless of the format, there's likely a scam to be had. Scams and fraud can come in the forms of phone calls, online links, door-to-door sales and mail. Below are common scams the New Jersey ...
Scammers are using AI-powered voice-cloning tools to prey on people. But experts say there's a simple way to protect you and your family. ... That means choosing a word or phrase that can't be ...
A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity , naivety , compassion , vanity , confidence , irresponsibility , and greed .
Scammers can use your email to target you directly. And, unfortunately, plenty of email phishing scams today are more sophisticated than the older varieties that would directly ask for your ...
The internet can be a fun place to interact with people and gain info, however, it can also be a dangerous place if you don't know what you're doing. Many times, these scams initiate from an unsolicited email. If you do end up getting any suspicious or fraudulent emails, make sure you immediately delete the message or mark it as spam.