14 Viral Images That Are Totally Faked

Viral images are just part of life now. Scrolling down your Facebook feed, you’re probably going to see numerous viral photos, but how can you tell if they’re real or not? A lot of folks just take things at face value, which means if they see an image, they’ll believe it to be real, but there are many people out there with a mischievous heart and basic Photoshop skills. Sometimes it’s obvious when a photo is fake, but at other times fake photos are extremely believable. We’ve collected 14 viral images that are definitely faked, and now it’s time to bust some myths!

This image of a space shuttle rising through the clouds into clear blue sky is a composite of two photos.

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Gizmodo

This was supposedly taken in a flooded shopping mall, but… get real! 

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Hoax Slayer

Is this a mystical moonmelon from Japan? No, just a Photoshopped watermelon.

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Hoaxes

This is supposedly a photo of the supermoon, but the moon has been enlarged and moved.

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Twitter

This might look Like Martin Luther King Jr. flipping the bird, but you can clearly see it has been edited. In the original, he was giving the peace sign.

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Tumblr

This has been touted as an image of the Malaysia Airlines jet that was downed in the Ukraine. Actually, it’s a still from Lost.

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Snopes

This is allegedly a lost exposure shot of lightning striking a tree. Beautiful, but fake!

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Hoaxes

Some people claim this is from Hurricane Sandy, but it’s really from the Jake Gyllenhaal blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow.

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Snopes

This might look like Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger both being The Joker at the same time, but it’s just figures of the pair.

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Reddit

This isn’t really a photo from the assassination of JFK, it’s from the JFK biopic.

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Gizmodo

Paris Hilton’s top was ‘shopped in this photo. It really said “Stop Being Desperate” which isn’t all that much better!

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Imgur

This is supposedly a child sleeping between the graves of his parents, but it’s actually a photo shoot. The boy is the nephew of the photographer.

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Hoaxes

Yup. So not real.

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Escape Normal

We’re sure you’ve all seen the “pooping cheerleader.” Well, that image was definitely faked. Here’s the original.

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Snopes