For the past year or more, we have been warned that we should not believe everything we read on the Internet. Whoever said that was right on so many levels, as we are often fooled into believing fake news! Just because it is on the Internet does not mean that it is real. People post false news for a lot of reasons; to drive traffic to a website and just to create buzz and sensation.

Fake news is everywhere, including social media and these social media sites have even taken measures to verify accounts as real just so people can know who the real celebrities are. Just as there are positives to using the Internet, there is also a negative side to it as well. Furthermore, we should be careful about what we share.

15 Photos That COMPLETELY Fooled The InternetSome graphic artists can do really good work and social media addicts work really well to share a good story as quickly as possible. The pictures that you are about to see may have shocked or fooled you. Some of them are fake and there is a possibility that some may actually be real.

15. Putin on a Bear

This picture shows Russia’s leader Vladimir Putin riding a bear. In the photo, he seems fearless. However, he is only fearless because he is actually riding a horse. Even Putin is not insane enough to risk his life riding on the back of a wild animal such as a bear. The photo went viral and several persons posted “Putin Vs the bear”.Well, it seems to us that if it were that kind of competition, Putin actually won. It was not a stunt pulled by his publicity team to make him appear braver and more fearless, but the image was actually photoshopped because the leader was on vacation and riding bareback. Too bad Russia failed to utilized their hacking skills to find the perpetrator.

14. Five-Headed Snake

First off, this image is gross. Secondly, it is blurry and thirdly why do people go out of their way to photoshop snakes? It was alleged that this snake was seen in India and then several other pictures of snakes with seven or even three heads were circulated on the Internet. The seven-headed snake was claimed to be found in Honduras. If any sane, logical person sees a snake like this, the first response is not going to be to take a picture but to run for the hills or attempt to kill it to save other lives (sorry environmentalist). The snake is either one of two things: a mutant or a demon. But it is definitely fake, yet it went viral on the Internet and people actually believed that the image was real despite the poor quality of the picture.

13. The Witch Spider

In this picture, that spider looks like it came straight out of a horror movie. There were claims that this picture was taken in Texas and other claims that it was taken in Australia and others say that it was found in Florida! Where did it actually come from? Well according to the museum of hoaxes, this picture is fake as a spider gets no bigger than the size of the palm of your hand. If this spider were real and actually existed, not only would it be a threat to livestock but it will be a threat to humans. They would compete with us for food and they would kill us. Also, we would need to have shotguns and knives ready to protect ourselves and families from these mutant spiders. But if we are attacked, maybe we’ll have spider senses and can join the Marvel Universe.

12. The Big Black Dog

For all the lovers of Clifford the Big Red Dog who lived with his owner Emily in a big dog house, this is Hercules the big black Pitbull. For some reason, his owner thought it would be a good idea for him to own such a big dog that is dangerous so he photoshopped the dog and voila. There are so many things are wrong with this photo and anyone who believes it to be true needs to be smacked on the head. The dog is almost bigger than his owner and yet he’s basically looking right at the photographer. In the original picture shared by his owner, Hercules was almost as tall as the horse. Sorry to disappoint all dog lovers that would want a dog to control them, but Hercules is just a regular sized dog.

11. Pregnancy Feet

This photo received a lot of shares, like and went viral almost as soon as it was put up. It is obviously fake. A lot of pregnant women who had active babies would tell you that they have never seen their baby’s foot imprinted on their belly. If it actually did happen, it would be a cool miracle but biology prevents that from happening. The baby has to be some sort of alien with super strength for their feet to show like that as the kick would have to move through tissue and walls of muscles. If you are pregnant and you are unfortunate enough to see such a sight, do not hesitate seeking emergency medical attention because something obviously has to be wrong with both you and the baby.

10. Oreo

Very few people like to deviate from the original flavors of Oreo. We’ll take them Double Stuffed or even Mega Stuffed or Triple Double. There is no way that we would be okay with accepting Fried Chicken Oreos. How would chicken and icing sugar taste? They certainly have some creative flavors but who would want to waste their money buying an entire pack without getting a free sample first? So, breathe a sigh of relief, while the picture fooled the Internet, thank heavens it was not real but fake. If Oreo does come out with such a flavor, it could either be a hit or a miss. If it is salty and seasoned like fried chicken with a cracker rather than a sweet biscuit the combination might just work.

9. Buddha in the Hills

The photo shows so much art and talent. It soon went viral for being an almost impossible task by the artist. It was claimed that the sculpture of Buddha lay on a rock in the NguyenKhag Taktsang Monastery in Bhutan. However, people soon pointed out that the landscape was actually found in China and that such a sculpture did not exist near the monastery. Thank you to the frequent travelers for pointing that out to us, because we actually thought that someone took a ladder to carve that sculpture into the rock with no concern for their safety and with the intention of creating a picturesque landscape that would go viral. Apart from the obvious, that sculpture appears to perfectly done. It would have actually made the destination more popular if it were real.

8. Frozen Venice

As much as you want to believe this picture is real, look at the color of the ice; the blue is unreal. Furthermore, it is very rare that the canals of Venice actual freeze over. But with global warming changing our weather, it is quite possible that the canals can completely freeze over. It has been only recorded twice in the city’s written history. The photo is actually a combination of two photos, Venice’s Canals and a frozen picture of Lake Baikal in Russia. It is actually nice work on the part of the graphic artist but unfortunately for anyone hoping to see Venice’s canals freeze like this, Venice hasn’t been cold enough for a while in winter for it to actually happen. Blame it on global warming but who knows, right?

7. Hurricane Sandy Over New York

This photo went viral in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. So many things make this picture fake. A storm hurricane is over the Statue of Liberty, yet if you were to zoom in, you would see a lot of tourists in the area. There is also no way the picture could be real and the waters so calm. Hurricane warnings would have been in effect and the island and seas would have been evacuated. Hurricane Sandy though did some serious damage on Lady Liberty. The intentions of this picture were okay but if you are going to claim this is a picture during a hurricane, you should at least remove the people and have the waters seemingly choppy. Why do it mediocre? Go all out and create an impression.

6. Giant Skeleton

Photos of this giant skeleton have been circulating the Internet for almost a decade and conspiracy theorists are not believing that it is fake. The media have also reported it as being real but National Geographic has refuted the claims and distanced itself from the photograph. The photograph was allegedly taken in Saudi Arabia when oil explorations led to the find. People believe the find to be true because some religions teach that giants roamed the Earth. The photo is actually a hoax and it was entered in a competition. However, the picture was not taken in Saudi Arabia as claimed but really in New York. It is uncertain whether the artist responsible for this photo won the competition. But if he did not, imagine the other photos in the competition.

5. Shark in the Flood

During hurricane Harvey, several worrisome photos were posted by pranksters. Some people may have believed it and well others may not have been so keen to because it was so unrealistic it had to be fake. Imagine driving along slowly in flood waters and swimming next to your vehicle is this white shark? Crazy right. This picture usually surfaces with every major storm that causes flood damage. The man who posted this picture said this shark was pictured on the freeway in Houston. Where did the shark escape from? Isn’t California known to have great white sharks? The water is also probably too shallow for them to be taking such a casual swim. Maybe it would have been more believable in Miami or Florida during Irma since they have Sea Aquarium and Sea World.

4. Mermaid Skeleton

Mermaids are mythical creatures and whilst most believers in fairy tales would want to believe this to be a legit picture, why would a mermaid be dug up and not found out in the sea? Maybe some ancient tribe captured her, tortured her and buried her because she was luring men at sea to their deaths, right? It is a possibility but ancient cultures would have probably burnt the mermaid instead. Sorry lovers of Ariel The Little Mermaid, this picture is fake. It too was entered into a photo manipulating competition. The fish’s vertebrae were a good addition to the photo and it is actually good work done by the graphic designer. Too bad for those who shared the picture without knowing its origin.

3. Fairy Corpse

This picture has been in circulation since April Fools’ Day in 2007. A man from London claimed that the mummified corpse of the fairy was discovered in Derbyshire. Its features were part bird and part child. People probably believed the fairy was Tinkerbelle because he was able to auction it on eBay and snagged £280 for it. Maybe he created an illusion because he was an illusion designer for magicians. The corpse actually looked real and soon the picture went viral as fairy lovers were beside themselves with glee. He did admit to the hoax. If you are going to fool the Internet, at least make some money out of it rather than wasting your time and that is what the illusionist from Derby did: he capitalized on an opportunity.

2. Pokémon on Simpsons

Ever since it was revealed that The Simpsons predicted the 9/11 attacks and President Donald Trump’s election, people have been saying that The Simpsons show actually predicts the future. They may have a point as most of the events in the show have actually taken place sans their doomsday prediction. Nonetheless, people playing Pokémon Go claimed that the Simpsons were playing it long before we did and this picture circulated on the Internet, shocking the world again and conspiracy theorists that The Simpsons‘ writers got something right again. Maybe such a thing as a crystal ball existed. The photo is fake, don’t get too excited. Some quick Photoshop work was done to make it this way but the show has a completely different image. The Simpsons did not predict Pokémon Go though they did air a parody episode.

1. Purple Fairy Pools

There are several reasons why this photo will go viral and be used as someone’s desktop or their phone’s wallpaper: it is a beautiful picture of nature. Too bad it was edited on Photoshop. The place actually does exist but the foliage is not purple and it is not the Fairy Pools of Scotland but rather located at Shotover River in New Zealand. Without the purple filter, the picture is still beautiful so it is unfortunate that someone would want to pass off a purple photo as being real. The real Fairy Pools in Scotland is also a breathtaking picturesque view that is wallpaper worthy as well. It is actually made up of pools and waterfalls. Both places are must-visits and should be added to your bucket list. They’re certainly added to ours.