The Top 25 Web Hoaxes and Pranks

Hoaxes by Decade

E-mail, Web sites, Photoshop. The digital era has made it easier than ever to pull a fast one on a large audience.

Pre-1990

• Apollo Moon Landing Hoax (1969)
• Sick Kid Needs Your Help (1989)

1990-1999

• Microsoft Buys Catholic Church (1994)
• Alien Autopsy at Roswell (1995)
• eBay Sales (1995 and on)
• $250 Cookie Recipe (1996)
• Kidney Harvesting (1996)
• Bill Gates Money Giveaway (1997)
• Disney Jr. Free Vacation (1998)
• Lights-Out Gang Member Initiation (1998)
• Five-Cent E-Mail Tax (1999)
• Virus Hoaxes (1999 and on)

2000 and on

• Nigerian 419 E-Mail Scam (2000)
• Giant Cat Photo (2001)
• World Trade Center Photo (2001)
• Bert and Osama bin Laden (2001)
• Hurricane Lili Waterspouts (2002)
• Onion Dupes Chinese Newspaper (2002)
• Sunset Over Africa (2003)
• Rand's 1954 Home Computer (2004)
• Los Angeles Times Wiki (2005)
• User-Created Commercials for Chevy Tahoe (2006)
• Microsoft Buys Firefox (2006)
• GPS Cell Phone Tracking (2007)
• Hercules, the Enormous Dog (2007)