Social media is a great way to connect with family and friends, but it also gives everyone a platform. Sometimes, that’s a great thing but then there are people who just use it to lie. Whether or not you think that everyone lies on social media, you can’t deny that a lot of people do.
Sometimes, it’s big stuff, like getting married or having a baby. But other times, you just have to call out the little lies. When people fib about insignificant things, it’s so frustrating. Maybe that’s because there was nothing for them to gain by lying.
Even celebrities have been caught lying on their social media pages. Whether they’re pretending that a post was an “accident” or trying to build themselves up to look cooler, they still do it — even if they are wealthy and known around the world.
But if there’s one thing the millennial generation is good at, it’s research. We know how to reverse search a Google image, spot a watermark, and verify information. So, at the end of the day, it’s better not to lie unless you want to be called out — brutally. Here are 65 times people got busted for lying online.
Not only is this a silly lie, but it’s also easy to check. Harry Potter movies are extremely popular and seen by audiences around the world. Did you really think no one would recognize this was lord Voldemort?
Some people feel the need to lie for no apparent reason. Hilariously, this guy got caught in the middle of taking a photo to brag about his “beach day” on social media.
Baby boomers are known for trusting whatever they see on the internet. Millennials not so much. It takes 30 seconds to Google something and we know how to do it.
That cute picture that you saw go viral? Everyone else saw it go viral, too. What’s more, they know how to use Google reverse image search pictures like these and they’re not afraid to call you out.
Maybe we’d trust you a little more if you didn’t broadcast your good deeds for everyone to know. So, we looked a little closer and found out that you’re full of it.
Dave doesn’t exist, the relationship doesn’t exist, and you’re a lying weirdo who made up an engagement just for the attention. However, your attempts to explain how you got engaged so quickly are entertaining, to say the least.
Well, that’ll show them! Now everyone knows that Dad disapproves of this politician for reasons he made up, and oh — he can’t vote for him anyway. So why are we doing this again?
This man knows BAD WORDS and he wants you to know it. He’ll unleash them with the fury of 1,000 suns if you dare to call him out on his very obvious lie.
Before you go off on a public rant about racist plots and conspiracies, maybe you should check yourself. It sure would be embarrassing if it was a completely normal classroom item covered in sheeting.
Either this guy was looking for an excuse as to why he was running late or he just wanted an excuse to stop and take a killer selfie. Either way, take note and don’t wear your sunglasses the next time you use this excuse.
Don’t get us wrong, there are plenty of race issues to talk about. Photoshopping lions isn’t really an effective way to contribute to the conversation.
This person is actually trying to pass off a run-of-the-mill sports blanket as a handmade item. They want a minimum of $400, which means they’re looking to get even more! Luckily, they got called out.
Anti-vaxxers aren’t known for being the most truthful people. How could they be, when their whole shtick is to pass off legitimate medicine as unnecessary and pretend that deadly diseases aren’t a big deal.
This guy decided to make a rude joke about the physical “inferiority” of the women who gave him attention. Of course, the real woman in the photo decided to call him out, and man, did he deserve it.
For some reason, this guy decided to pose like this for a picture and thought that it looked cool. But he didn’t want anyone to know he was posing, so he had to make up a lie about the sun. Unfortunately for him, the internet knows that shadows exist.
More than one girl has taken to social media to pretend to be someone making a grand romantic gesture. Unfortunately, none of her friends are buying it. Maybe they looked closely at the post details or perhaps they just know her well.
People try some of the oddest things to impress others on social media. Like this guy, who put a photo through a filter and then thought everyone would love it if he said it was a painting.
18. When a whole magazine stuck its collective foot in its mouth
Publications make goofy claims all the time. But one like this is bound to get you called out. Especially if you’re posting a picture of the well-known CrossFit athlete Rich Froning.
No, you don’t get to retain your status as a vegetarian if you regularly eat pepperoni. No matter what you do to it, it’s still meat. You can eat it, just don’t make up nonsense like this.
Social media isn’t the place to write emotional rants, especially if they’re not authentic. Because rest assured, your online friends will call you out so fast.
Newsflash to everyone: cameras don’t accidentally take pictures and pictures don’t accidentally post themselves to the internet. If you’re going to post a selfie, just own it.
I bet this guy can run a four-minute mile too, huh? Can he also run 40 miles an hour? Usain Bolt has broken the world record at 28 miles per hour, but he has nothing on this perfect human athlete.
This girl’s sanctimony is a little too much to bear, especially considering she isn’t the virgin that she’s pretending to be. If there’s anything that proves your virgin status to be false, it’s a baby!
Look, if you want to come across as smart, maybe you should read the classics of American literature before you criticize them. Take a lesson from Nick Carraway (he’s in that book, too!).
Before we dive into this one, I want to understand. Why would anyone feel like they should lie about this? What on earth do they stand to gain from this bizarre fib?
Look, you want to take a cute posed photo? Fine — but own it. Don’t pretend like there was a third person in the room watching you sleep, because that’s just weird.
There’s no doubt about one thing — this guy’s friends will never let him forget that one time he wrote a self-aggrandizing story about his date who promptly told the real version. The Mexican food was strike one. This story was strike two.
29. Don’t rip off a famous actor on national television
Sure, it’s a cute joke, but was it really good enough to steal and pass off as your own? Robert Downey Jr. has earned the reputation for being charmingly conceited, but he’s a great actor — and he IS very handsome.
30. Hey Facebook, did you know I’m in a relationship?
Maybe making 11 Facebook posts in a single day is actually cutting back for this person. But it does come across as ironic when you’re getting on Facebook to talk about how you’re never on Facebook anymore.
31. We all watched TV when we were kids, nugget hater
This whole lie is so bizarre and hilarious that it’ll live on in internet infamy. Back in the 90s, every child alive watched the Teletubbies. Why would you ever use that picture for your ridiculous lie?
Did you ever hear the story about the tattoo artist named “Shutterstock”? The Shutterstock family is a respected one in this town, so I don’t want to hear anyone calling me a liar!
33. Jessica, Daphne, and Anika aren’t playing around
These women saw the opportunity to use these screenshots and didn’t pass it up. After all, such a perfect chance rarely comes along. The three held nothing back and it makes us cringe.
34. I was just lounging in my sparkly bathing suit
Not even celebrities are immune to the occasional lying social media post. Kim Kardashian took an obviously posed photo and tried to play it off like her toddler daughter “just happened” to take it. No one fell for it.
This person’s genius plan was to quit their job, then pretend they’d been fired so they could take advantage of people’s generosity. Fortunately, someone decided to call them out on it.
36. What kind of person bashes a company for no reason?
It’s anybody’s guess what this person’s motivation was. Possibly, they have a different legal name than what they use on Facebook, but they may have just been lying — which is a crappy thing to do.
For some reason, someone decided to use this picture from a movie to make a political post, instead of using a real picture — they had the whole internet to draw from!
Here’s another bizarre lie. Once people know what Google reverse image search is, it’s really, really easy to call someone out on their photo lies. Sorry, liars everywhere!
This person is making a point — in very strong language — that they have no time for freeloaders. Except that they did the same thing just a few weeks prior, even soliciting individual friends.
It’s hard to put your finger on why this lie is so hilarious. Maybe because it’s so sloppy or perhaps because Chris is exaggerating his charms a little too much.
This person could easily have avoided looking silly by choosing a different username, or not commenting on the video. Instead, they tried to play it cool in the most hilarious way possible.
This person got called out when they lied about being the artist of this piece. Then, instead of admitting they were lying, they doubled down and tried to play it off like the piece was listed under the model’s name.
This rapper took a picture of a private jet and played it off like it was his. Unfortunately, someone else spotted him and called him out — because they were on the same commercial flight as him!
44. He thought no one would look for more than three seconds
This person decided to pretend to find a box of Rottweiler puppies to…get attention? What did they plan on saying when friends asked to see them or when they suddenly no longer had puppies?
46. The memory that will make them cringe for the rest of time
Looking at this photo, all I can say is that I’m thankful I was a teenager before the internet was big. No one else knew how cringeworthy we were. These days, teens get their stupidity immortalized online.
This bakery gets all the kudos for taking the bad review seriously. They took the time to review the security footage and then politely replied. They could have been much ruder to this lady who felt the need to lie.
We get it. Every parent thinks their child is the smartest and the cutest. But some people love to exploit their children for social media attention. Honey, your child didn’t say that.
Every kid hopes they look cool, but few are so bold as to pose as a married man whose wife is his “manager.” When Rory’s mom found out what was going on, she put a stop to things in no uncertain terms.
When a man was turned away from a tattoo shop for harassing female employees, he decided to make it about his military service. Unfortunately for him, the owner was also a veteran and told the real story.
51. Tigerair Australia doesn’t care about your viral videos
It’s not surprising the airline caught wind of this post — this would have been a PR disaster for them if it was true. Thankfully, all they had to do was review some security footage to see it was all made up.
52. The gossip mags are really reaching these days
British actress Keeley Hawes was annoyed when the Daily Mail claimed she’d lost 14 pounds for her most recent role. In fact, she’d never even heard of the alkaline diet she was supposedly on.
If you really want people to admire you, pretend like you have money, right? Unfortunately for this would-be poor little rich guy, his Jimmy John’s coworker knows exactly what his paychecks look like.
True, there are some articulate 3-year-olds. However, most of them can’t say something like this, and they definitely all think Santa leaves presents on Christmas Eve.
There are so many layers to this. Why would you tag the man you’re lying about, especially when he’s a well-known celebrity? What’s more, why didn’t you make your lie more, you know, brag-worthy?
Look, haunted houses are scary and no one would seriously fault him for being nervous by going to one. But we’re going to laugh at a grown man pretending to be tough when he was actually scared out of his wits.
Steve Nash was running a charitable promoion that challenged his followers to each donate $13. One guy decided to one-up everyone by donating a whole extra dollar. Except that all $14 were hypothetical.
You should never pose as a doctor on the internet unless you have a real medical degree. Of course, if you do, choose a university that didn’t just open its doors.
Why would you brag about something when you know it doesn’t apply to you? If you’ve got to brag on social media, focus on something that’s not so easily disproved by your annoyed mom.
This woman had her pictures stolen and posted by another account that claimed she had cancer. In reality, she didn’t have cancer at all — and she was not happy about pics being used without her permission.
This guy didn’t actually tag Harry Styles, so he probably didn’t expect the One Direction star to find his tweet. The joke was on him — Styles wasted no time proving him a liar.
Good job taking a stand about the ethical treatment of animals! Look, be a vegan or don’t, but if you’re going to brag about it on social media, maybe you shouldn’t eat giant bowls of meat in public.
Often, the dumbest lies are the most irritating. There was no reason this person had to lie about not studying — it didn’t make them look cool. Their friend couldn’t help but object.
Stephen Hawking decried the importance of IQ tests andyou can’t trust online ones anyway. But come on, glance over your own post before you lie about it.
In one lie combined with a thoughtless social media post, this lady insulted two people — the friend she stood up and her boss. She’d better enjoy those cocktails because she has some apologies to make.
Social media is a great way to connect with family and friends, but it also gives everyone a platform. Sometimes, that’s a great thing but then there are people who just use it to lie. Whether or not you think that everyone lies on social media, you can’t deny that a lot of people do.
Sometimes, it’s big stuff, like getting married or having a baby. But other times, you just have to call out the little lies. When people fib about insignificant things, it’s so frustrating. Maybe that’s because there was nothing for them to gain by lying.
Even celebrities have been caught lying on their social media pages. Whether they’re pretending that a post was an “accident” or trying to build themselves up to look cooler, they still do it — even if they are wealthy and known around the world.
But if there’s one thing the millennial generation is good at, it’s research. We know how to reverse search a Google image, spot a watermark, and verify information. So, at the end of the day, it’s better not to lie unless you want to be called out — brutally. Here are 65 times people got busted for lying online.