How to determine what is true or false

Posted on 21 Jul 2021 10:00 am

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We all know that the internet is a rabbit hole of true and false information, and at times it’s difficult to know what to believe! We’ve noticed an insurgence of false and questionable content and requests over the last 18 months (especially since covid) so let’s revisit our True or False blog post…

Did you know that if you’re ever forced to withdraw money from an ATM, you can notify the police by entering your PIN in reverse? The machine will still dispense the cash but unknown to the robber the police will be immediately dispatched to help you. Great news! Hang on, my PIN is the same in reverse and I’ve never noticed flashing lights and sirens....hmmm. 

Here’s a few sure-fire ways to figure out whether the content you’ve heard about is real or bogus:

  • Google verified sites: over the years Google have invested in ensuring that the information on their search engine is safe and now have verification ticks for webpages. If the page is suspicious, it will not have their little green tick.
  • Check an urban legend reference page such as www.snopes.com. For the past 20 years, this site has been debunking urban legends, internet rumours, email forwards and other stories of unknown or questionable origin. At times it has received up to 300,000 visits a day!
  • Incorrect spelling: nothing raises alarm bells such as a title like ‘God Mornin my Freend’.
  • If the email you're questioning is already in your Spam Folder, leave it where it belongs.
  • Look at the email address. If it's from hotdiggetydog@ or youneedthis@, then trust your gut. Also, email addresses that have a long string of numbers in front of them are very questionable.
  • You’ve won ten million dollars and all you have to do is send your bank account details and PIN. Firstly, congratulations! But seriously, don’t ever send your bank account details or your password to anyone via email. Banks and government agencies will never ask you to log in using a link in an email nor will they ask you for private information. They will always send a letter through the mail, or you’ll get a notification when you log into your bank account.

Remember, if it's a really important matter, the sender will know how to contact you via other more trustworthy means.

Other sites which can help you check the facts, or if you need a bit of comic relief, are:

  • www.truthorfiction.com
  • www.factcheck.org

Oh, and the last piece of advice from us – if it looks too good to be true, it probably is!

 

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