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The cruellest Internet Hoax

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18282277

Which talks about a 2 year long deception by a person pretending to be the mother of a seriously ill child. Then it all comes out that it was made up.

http://community.macmillan.org.uk/blogs/b/admin/archive/2011/11/25/please-read-anna-johns.aspx

Have you guys ever come accross instances of this elsewhere on the internet, I have seen it happen on smallish scales on thesite on a number of occasions in the past, but never to this extent.

Comments

  • **helen****helen** Deactivated Posts: 9,235 Supreme Poster
    As soon as I read the headline I thought this:
    An American psychiatrist, Marc Feldman, has described it as "Munchausen by internet", similar to the well-known Munchausen syndrome, in which people fabricate illnesses to gain attention and sympathy.

    This kind of behaviour has been played out for years away from the internet, so I guess it's inevitable that we'd see it online too? :chin:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I was having a chat with someone about this the other day too (offline) and they thought pretty much the same thing as you helen. Over the years we have seen "offline" behaviour become very apparent on the internet, be it cyber bullying or occasions such as internet hoaxing. I guess the internet, whilst not at fault as it is only an enabler or forum as opposed to the cause, is a golden nugget to mean people as it is effectively a whole new reality (albeit a very anonymous one) for people to harass others.
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