Fake News and Articles

Apple Security

UK standards body says 99% of fake Apple chargers sold are unsafe

Apple recently sued US-based firm Mobile Star LLC for trademark infringement, alleging that it has been selling counterfeit goods using Apple logos and product images in its Amazon listings. While the company is looking to protect its brand name, it…

By Jose Vilches, December 2, 2016, 4:30 PM 7 comments

Gaming The Web

Fake video game stories are everywhere

With everyone from Mark Zuckerberg to President Obama expressing concerns over the amount of fake news stories appearing online – and the fact that many people believe them – it’s easy to forget that this sort of misinformation extends beyond…

By Rob Thubron, November 22, 2016, 6:15 AM 14 comments

Apple Electronics

Apple finds 90% of its accessories sold on Amazon are fake; sues main manufacturer

You would imagine that buying Apple products such as chargers or cables from Amazon would mean you’re getting the real thing, but it seems that’s not always the case. According to a lawsuit filed by the iPhone maker, 90 percent…

By Rob Thubron, October 20, 2016, 1:00 PM 22 comments

Security

Extortionists make over $100,000 from threatening DDoS emails without ever launching an attack

Companies will go to extreme lengths to prevent themselves from becoming the victims of distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, even if it means handing over cash to the cybercriminals who threaten to disrupt the firms. It turns out that one group…

By Rob Thubron, April 26, 2016, 1:15 PM

Google The Web

Google expands Safe Browsing to warn users of deceptive embedded content

Google has announced that it is expanding its Safe Browsing technology to protect users from “deceptive embedded content” such as online ads that attempt to trick people into revealing personal information or masquerade as trusted entities requesting updates.

By Rob Thubron, February 4, 2016, 11:30 AM 12 comments

News Around the Web

Weekend tech reading: 'Hot potato' allows Windows privilege escalation, spotting fake Amazon reviews

Hot Potato (aka: Potato) takes advantage of known issues in Windows to gain local privilege escalation in default configurations, namely NTLM relay (specifically HTTP->SMB relay) and NBNS spoofing. If this sounds vaguely familiar...

By Matthew DeCarlo, January 24, 2016, 11:00 AM

Gaming The Web

Harmonix employees caught red-handed posting favorable reviews of 'Rock Band 4' on Amazon

Rock Band 4 launched a little over two weeks ago on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. While a strong marketing campaign may have been sufficient to generate the sales that Harmonix and Mad Catz were seeking, the former has been…

By Valeria Merchan, October 23, 2015, 12:30 AM

The Web

Amazon launches lawsuit against 1114 fake reviewers

Amazon has started legal action against more than 1100 people for allegedly posting fake reviews on its website. The online retail giant said in its lawsuit, filed in a state court in Seattle on Friday, that the defendants had "tarnishing…

By Rob Thubron, October 19, 2015, 8:45 AM

The Web

Fake Bloomberg website sends Twitter stock soaring

A fake website set up by a bunch of scammers, designed to imitate the look of legitimate news outlet Bloomberg, has led to a seven percent increase in Twitter's stock value after the fake website published an article relating to…

By Tim Schiesser, July 15, 2015, 7:15 AM 3 comments

Industry The Web

Amazon sues websites selling 5-star product reviews

Amazon is sick of having to deal with fake user reviews on its product pages, so they're taking the fight to the offenders by filing a lawsuit against them in the King County Supreme Court.

By Tim Schiesser, April 10, 2015, 11:00 AM 14 comments

Hardware The Web

Some Amazon UK buyers were shipped counterfeit AMD APUs

Amazon – and in turn, some of its shoppers – have apparently fallen victim to a scam involving counterfeit AMD Kaveri APUs. Overclock3D, which was the first to pick up on the matter, noticed that multiple shoppers have left feedback on...

By Shawn Knight, February 9, 2015, 7:30 PM

Industry

Kickstarter suspends Anonabox campaign, evidence of fraud mounts

Anonabox, the tiny plug-and-play Tor router that raised nearly $600,000 on crowdfunding platform Kickstarter in less than a week, may be a fraud. Kickstarter’s Trust and Safety team suspended the project on Friday after a number of Reddit members have…

By Shawn Knight, October 18, 2014, 3:00 PM 8 comments

The Web Apple

Fake ad making the rounds on social media claims you can charge your iPhone in a microwave

Are you familiar with Apple Wave, the revolutionary new charging feature that’s bundled with iOS 8? It uses microwave frequencies to charge your phone. All you need to do for a rapid recharge is place your iOS 8 device in a…

By Shawn Knight, September 22, 2014, 9:45 AM 25 comments

Microsoft Software

Windows Store flooded with scam apps and Microsoft doesn't care

Last year, Microsoft's Windows Store passed the 100,000 apps mark, and by April this year, that number had climbed to over 400,000 when combining apps from the Windows and Windows Phone stores. Going by these numbers the company's platforms seems to be growing fast…

By Himanshu Arora, August 18, 2014, 11:30 AM 21 comments

Software

Trend Micro finds nearly 900,000 fake Android apps

A recent study by Japanese security software company Trend Micro has uncovered nearly 900,000 fake Android apps floating around in the wild, designed to fool users into downloading them before stealing user data and aggressively serving ads.

By Tim Schiesser, July 17, 2014, 7:15 AM 8 comments

Industry

Bot or Not will tell you if a Twitter account is run by a social bot

Twitter is closing in on a billion user accounts but as we looked at last month, nearly half of those accounts have never published a single tweet. And even if an account is active, that doesn’t mean it’s legit as…

By Shawn Knight, May 7, 2014, 7:30 AM 4 comments

The Web

A staggering number of Twitter accounts have never published a tweet, report claims

Twitter is one of the most popular social networks in the world with some 974 million accounts but just how many of those have ever published? A new report from Twocharts, a website that tracks Twitter activity, claims to have…

By Shawn Knight, April 11, 2014, 6:00 PM 11 comments

Mobile

BlackBerry denies any involvement in questionable reviews of BBM for Android

BlackBerry resumed its rollout of BBM for Android and iOS earlier this week which was downloaded more than 10 million times in the first 24 hours. Impressive as those statistics may be, it’s the controversy surrounding a number of clearly…

By Shawn Knight, October 25, 2013, 11:45 AM 7 comments

Industry

Samsung admits to posting fake user reviews on the web

Officials in Taiwan are investigating claims that Samsung paid people to post favorable reviews about their products online while at the same time offering up negative feedback on rival HTC’s products. The investigation launched after the Fair Trade Commission received…

By Shawn Knight, April 17, 2013, 12:30 PM 27 comments

Industry The Web

10-15% of online reviews will be paid for by companies in 2013

Research firm Gartner reports that corporate spending on positive social media ratings and reviews will continue to swell by 2014. The expected result is a 10 to 15 percent increase in paid-for ratings and reviews, making the web an increasingly…

By Rick Burgess, September 17, 2012, 6:00 PM 11 comments

Apple Mobile

Apple loses lawsuit over iPad name in China

The Intermediate People’s Court in Shenzhen has ruled against Apple in a complaint against a Chinese technology company over the use of the iPad name. Apple has confirmed the lawsuit but has declined further comment, according to a report from…

By Shawn Knight, December 7, 2011, 12:30 PM 11 comments

TechSpot

Fake articles

UK standards body says 99% of fake Apple chargers sold are unsafe

Fake video game stories are everywhere

Apple finds 90% of its accessories sold on Amazon are fake; sues main manufacturer

Extortionists make over $100,000 from threatening DDoS emails without ever launching an attack

Google expands Safe Browsing to warn users of deceptive embedded content

Weekend tech reading: 'Hot potato' allows Windows privilege escalation, spotting fake Amazon reviews

Harmonix employees caught red-handed posting favorable reviews of 'Rock Band 4' on Amazon

Amazon launches lawsuit against 1114 fake reviewers

Fake Bloomberg website sends Twitter stock soaring

Amazon sues websites selling 5-star product reviews

Some Amazon UK buyers were shipped counterfeit AMD APUs

Kickstarter suspends Anonabox campaign, evidence of fraud mounts

Fake ad making the rounds on social media claims you can charge your iPhone in a microwave

Windows Store flooded with scam apps and Microsoft doesn't care

Trend Micro finds nearly 900,000 fake Android apps

Bot or Not will tell you if a Twitter account is run by a social bot

A staggering number of Twitter accounts have never published a tweet, report claims

BlackBerry denies any involvement in questionable reviews of BBM for Android

Samsung admits to posting fake user reviews on the web

10-15% of online reviews will be paid for by companies in 2013

Apple loses lawsuit over iPad name in China