The woman with three boobs, Bill Gates giving away free cash… and 9 more of the best internet hoaxes ever
EARLIER this week, we revealed the truth behind claims that YouTube vlogger Marina Joyce had been kidnapped by ISIS.
Many of the fashion star’s 197,000 followers panicked and even alerted police, fearing a video she'd recently uploaded showed her being held hostage by ISIS terrorists.
The hoax escalated to such an extent that police officers paid a visit to the 19-year-old’s home, only to discover she was completely safe.
After all that, the hashtag #SaveMarinaJoyce was in vain – there were no ISIS terrorists in the girl's Enfield home, fortunately.
Marina’s viewers are not the only people to have been swept along by internet hoaxes.
Throughout the years millions have been tricked by different internet stunts - take a look back at the most deceptive hoaxes ever...
The Woman with three boobs
People across the world stared at their screens in disbelief back in 2014 when images of a woman with three boobs went viral.
Jasmine Tridevil of Florida, US, claimed to have paid a surgeon £15,000 to implant a third breast in the middle of her chest.
However, weeks later she was, erm, exposed.
It turned out that she had been wearing a three breast prosthesis the whole time.
Bill Gates is giving away free cash
This particular hoax has done the rounds more than a few times.
It originally started in 1997, via email, and has returned time and time again.
In 2013, and with a modernised look, the hoax was posted on Facebook and pictured Bill Gates holding a piece of paper revealing he was giving away free money.
Once again, thousands fell for the hoax and shared the link with the hope of getting $5,000.
How to charge and iPod with an onion
In 2007, Household Hacker posted a video on how to charge and iPod with an onion.
The video shows, in detail, the process required to charge up the portable music device, only using one onion and two cups of Gatorade.
Yet, the supposed life hack turned out to be another hoax to the disappointment of the video’s one million viewers.
The Derbyshire Fairy
Dan Baines, a 31-year-old illusion designer from London, created an April Fools’ Day prank in 2007 and deceived thousands of people with a photo of the supposed Derbyshire Fairy.
The image looks incredibly believable and even included wings, skin and teeth.
Even after Dan revealed that the fairy was a hoax, he claims that his email was still flooded with enquiries about the mystical creature.
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Fake Harry Styles haircut
Earlier this year, One Direction fans went crazy over reports that Harry Styles had cut his hair.
When a cleverly constructed photo using the new Snapchat face-swap feature appeared on social media, millions of people were conned into thinking it was a real pic of the singer.
Giant Camel Spiders
While Giant Camel Spiders are a real species that do exist in Iraq, the email that circulated showing an image of a particularly giant one held by troops stationed in Baghdad was, in fact, a hoax.
The email, that claimed the spiders could travel 10mph and showed them to be far bigger than they actually are, fooled thousands of people.
High school millionaire
In 2014, the New York magazine released an article saying that a 17-year-old boy had made £55million trading in oil and gold.
Shortly after, the teen - Mohammed Islam, who had astounded financial experts - admitted that his story was all an elaborate hoax to impress his school friends.
Twerking fail
Another hoax that stunned viewers was posted to Youtube in 2013.
The clip showed a girl, Caitlin Heller, catching fire after falling onto a candle while twerking upside-down.
The video has received more than 19 million view, but was revealed to be a hoax by the popular TV presenter Jimmy Kimmel.
Fetus soup
Horrifying images of a man eating what was described as fetus soup were also spread via email.
The post, that was believed to be real by many back in 2001, turned out to be photos staged by an artist for an exhibition.
The supposed fetus was actually a duck leg with a doll's head on top.