Ebola Facebook Scam Emerges in North Dakota

As the fear of Ebola continues to sweep the nation, tasteless pranksters have taken advantage of those fears in the form of a sick joke. Just this week, a story claiming that Ebola had infected a Fargo man began popping up in Facebook newsfeeds.

The story alleges the unidentified male was traveling from Mexico and tested positive for the Ebola virus at a Fargo hospital, with a picture of a Sanford medical facility. It even claims the CDC has confirmed the case, making it seem even more legitimate.

If you click on the link, one of two things seems to happen:

feednewz.com

• It takes you to the originating site and lets you know you've just been pranked
• Facebook warns you of a potentially unsafe site and gives you the option of reporting it as spam

Looking at the source of the post, it comes from a website called feednewz.com. A quick search shows that the website prides itself on "making pranks easy and fun!" Similar pranks have popped up in cities like Sioux Falls, SD, while the website boasts the option of sharing ready-made Ebola pranks in cities like, Peoria, IL, Hamilton, OH, and others.

In this day and age where a vast majority of people have access to the internet and limitless information, we need to be more informed than ever about where we get our news from. In the event a case of Ebola was reported in North Dakota, the information would come directly from the CDC.

It's easy to blindly share information on social media, but please people, check your sources!