Fake Twitter Amber Alert, Yet Once Again

Twitter, being one of the larger real time communication platforms that can pass message at the speed of thought, laid victim to a terrible hoax today. Apparently a Tweeted message was sent alerting tweeps that a 3 year Girl was taken in Stockton, Ca. The message also stated that an Amber Alert was in effect to assist in her safe return. While fellow tweeps quickly spread the message in good faith, it was unfortunate that this was a ruse.

It should also be noted that this has become quite a common spam alert, that has been spread via the internet and cell phones since 2006. If this had been an actual Amber Alert all news media outlets are immediately notified of the incident. So if you are transversing the twittersverse and find something in similar reference, a quick check to one of your major media sources should confirm or negate the validity of the message.

Employees of Twitter apparently caught on to this message and have since removed it from the list of trending topics.

Several variations of the message can be found at snopes.com

A brief timeline of this type of message can be found here.

2 Responses to “Fake Twitter Amber Alert, Yet Once Again”

1. Posts about social media as of September 10, 2009 says:

   September 10, 2009 at 7:02 pm

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2. Tweets that mention Fake Twitter Amber Alert, Yet Once Again -- Topsy.com says:

   September 10, 2009 at 8:32 pm

   [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mike D and Michael D. Mike D said: Fake Twitter Amber Alert, Yet Once Again http://url4.eu/Pc7w [...]

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