Fake websites - can you tell he difference between real and fake websites?

PictureUse Black Hat thinking when analysing websites to see if they are fake or inaccurate.
There are many websites that have been created intentionally to show how easy it is to fool people into believing what they read. Just because something is on a website or news site does not mean that it is true. Many websites have misinformation or are very biased (which means they focus only on one point of view or give you information to try and get you to think in a certain way about a topic). There are some guidelines you can follow that will help you decide which are the 'best' or most authoritative sources of information but in this module we want you to look carefully at each site and see what the clues are that will help you determine if it is a fake site.
​For each of the following websites try and find between 5-10 examples that prove that this site is fake.
HINT: Some things you can check are:
  • The URL or web address. Does it look like a real domain? (Usually .edu, .gov, and .org are the best for students.
  • ​Check to see if the links go anywhere
  • Check some of the names of people and places by doing a Google search. Are they real?
  • ​Does the information make sense? 
  • Notice if there are spelling or grammatical errors 
  • If the information seems strange or silly TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS - you are probably right.​

Resources

Check out the following examples of fake website. Can you tell how they are fake?
​All about explorers
The Dihydrogen Monoxide (DHMO) website
Save the Tree Octopus
Dog Island
Of course all of this is a lot of fun but fake websites are a serious concern as many people are being cheated out of their personal information and also losing lots of money because they believe the websites they are buying things from are real. If you want to find out a little more about this topic here are a few websites that might useful.